Prevalent role of porosity and osteonal area over mineralization heterogeneity in the fracture toughness of human cortical bone.

ABSTRACT: Changes in the distribution of bone mineralization occurring with aging, disease, or treatment have prompted concerns that alterations in mineralization heterogeneity may affect the fracture resistance of bone. Yet, so far, studies assessing bone from hip fracture cases and fracture-free women have not reached a consensus on how heterogeneity in tissue mineralization relates to skeletal fragility. Owing to the multifactorial nature of toughening mechanisms occurring in bone, we assessed the relative contribution of heterogeneity in mineralization to fracture resistance with respect to age, porosity, and area fraction of osteonal tissue. The latter parameters were extracted from quantitative backscattered electron imaging of human cortical bone sections following R-curve tests of single-edg

SUBMITTER: Granke M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5056137 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature