Bone collagen network integrity and transverse fracture toughness of human cortical bone.

ABSTRACT: Greater understanding of the determinants of skeletal fragility is highly sought due to the great burden that bone affecting diseases and fractures have on economies, societies and health care systems. Being a complex, hierarchical composite of collagen type-I and non-stoichiometric substituted hydroxyapatite, bone derives toughness from its organic phase. In this study, we tested whether early observations that a strong correlation between bone collagen integrity measured by thermomechanical methods and work to fracture exist in a more general and heterogeneous sampling of the population. Neighboring uniform specimens from an established, highly characterized and previously published collection of human cortical bone samples (femur mid-shaft) were decalcified in EDTA. Fifty-four of the or

SUBMITTER: Willett TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6360115 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature