title: Fracture of human femur tissue monitored by acoustic emission sensors.
abstract: The study describes the acoustic emission (AE) activity during human femur tissue fracture. The specimens were fractured in a bending-torsion loading pattern with concurrent monitoring by two AE sensors. The number of recorded signals correlates well with the applied load providing the onset of micro-fracture at approximately one sixth of the maximum load. Furthermore, waveform frequency content and rise time are related to the different modes of fracture (bending of femur neck or torsion of diaphysis). The importance of the study lies mainly in two disciplines. One is that, although femurs are typically subjects of surgical repair in humans, detailed monitoring of the fracture with AE will enrich the understanding of the process in ways that cannot be achieved using only the mechanical data. Additionally, from the point of view of monitoring techniques, applying sensors used for engineering materials and interpreting the obtained data pose additional difficulties due to the uniqueness of the bone structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. daggelis@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Dimitrios G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Aggelis
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. maria.strantza@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strantza
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium. olivia.louis@uzbrussel.be.
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Louis
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. frans.boulpaep@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Frans
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boulpaep
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Panepistimioupolis Rion, 26500 Patra, Greece. polyzos@mech.upatras.gr.
authors.forename: Demosthenes
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Polyzos
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. danny.van.hemelrijck@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Hemelrijck
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical