Chen Yang, Ma Heather T, Liang Li, Zhang Chaoyang, Griffith James F, Leung Ping-Chung
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2015;2015:3921-4. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319251.
Trabecular bone and bone marrow are main components of cancellous bone. Most mechanical studies for bone mainly focus on hard tissues, while if bone marrow contributes to bone biomechanics is not clear yet. This study was proposed to investigate marrow fat effect on trabecular bone biomechanics by simulation. Finite element (FE) bone models were established based on quantitative CT images at L3 lumbar spine, from which trabecular structures with and without marrow fat were investigated respectively. Auni-static compressive test was applied on the proposed models until to the appearance of fracture. Simulation results showed that trabecular models filled with marrow fat had about 3%-9% less maximum stress in volume than models with only trabeculae. However, its average stress in volume was about 9%-56% larger than those with only trabeculae. The strain energy density of the bone model with marrow fat showed a more uniformed distribution. As a conclusion, marrow fat has contributions to the bone mechanics. It can balance the stress distribution of the bone tissue, which may reduce bone deformation under a compressive loading. The mixture of trabecular structure and marrow fat would be against higher compress load before the failure point.
松质骨的主要组成部分是骨小梁和骨髓。大多数关于骨骼的力学研究主要集中在硬组织上，而骨髓是否对骨生物力学有贡献尚不清楚。本研究旨在通过模拟研究骨髓脂肪对骨小梁生物力学的影响。基于L3腰椎的定量CT图像建立有限元（FE）骨模型，分别研究有骨髓脂肪和无骨髓脂肪的骨小梁结构。对所建立的模型进行单轴压缩试验，直至出现骨折。模拟结果表明，填充骨髓脂肪的骨小梁模型的体积最大应力比仅含骨小梁的模型小约3%-9%。然而，其体积平均应力比仅含骨小梁的模型大9%-56%。含骨髓脂肪的骨模型的应变能密度分布更均匀。总之，骨髓脂肪对骨力学有贡献。它可以平衡骨组织的应力分布，这可能会减少压缩载荷下的骨变形。在破坏点之前，骨小梁结构和骨髓脂肪的混合结构能够承受更高的压缩载荷。
