Correlation between longitudinal, circumferential, and radial moduli in cortical bone: effect of mineral content.

Previous studies indicate that changes in the longitudinal elastic properties of bone due to changes in mineral content are related to the longitudinal strength of bone tissue. Changes in mineral content are expected to affect bone tissue mechanical properties along all directions, albeit to different extents. However, changes in tissue mechanical properties along the different directions are expected to be correlated to one another. In this study, we investigate if radial, circumferential, and longitudinal moduli are related in bone tissue with varying mineral content. Plexiform bovine femoral bone samples were treated in fluoride ion solutions for a period of 3 and 12 days to obtain bones with 20% and 32% lower effective mineral contents. Transmission ultrasound velocities were obtained in the radial, circumferential, and longitudinal axes of bone and combined with measured densities to obtain corresponding tensorial moduli. Results indicate that moduli decreased with fluoride ion treatments and were significantly correlated to one another (r(2) radial vs. longitudinal = 0.80, r(2) circumferential vs. longitudinal = 0.90, r(2) radial vs. circumferential = 0.85). Densities calculated from using ultrasound parameters, acoustic impedance and transmission velocities, were moderately correlated to those measured by the Archimedes principle (r(2)=0.54, p<0.01). These results suggest that radial and circumferential ultrasound measurements could be used to determine the longitudinal properties of bone and that ultrasound may not be able to predict in vitro densities of bones containing unbonded mineral.

Effects of hydrogen peroxide cleaning procedures on bone graft osteoinductivity and mechanical properties.

Bone allografts are frequently used during orthopaedic trauma cases or other reconstructive procedures. Most allografts are processed and cleaned before use. Our goals were to determine if an improved cleaning procedure compromises the strength or osteoinductivity of a graft. We compared our improved cleaning procedure to our standard cleaning procedure on cortical bone allograft. The cleaning procedures are generally composed of a series of chemical steps with nonionic detergents, hydrogen peroxide, and alcohol under time and temperature control, subjected to ultrasonic agitation. We tested the compressive strength, impact strength, and shear strength following the standard and improved cleaning procedures. Osteoinductivity was tested in 4 groups, using the improved cleaning procedure with four different hydrogen peroxide cleaning times: 0, 1, 3, and 5 h. Osteoinductivity was evaluated in vivo, using a 28-day implant in the hamstring muscle of an athymic, nude mouse. Results demonstrated that osteoinductivity is maintained with cleaning in hydrogen peroxide for up to 1 h, and that compressive strength, impact strength, and shear strength were all unaffected by the improved cleaning procedure. The improved cleaning procedure therefore did not compromise the strength or osteoinductivity of cortical bone allografts in comparison to the standard procedure.

Increased ash contents and estimation of dissolution from chemical changes due to in-vitro fluoride treatments.

The in-vitro fluoride treatment technique has been introduced to investigate the composite behavior of bone tissue. Bone tissue with different mechanical properties can be obtained by varying the concentration, pH and immersion time in fluoride ion solutions. The chemical and physical changes in intact pieces of bone treated in-vitro with different concentrations of fluoride ions are studied. The amount of bone mineral that does not contribute to the mechanical behavior of bone tissue is estimated from the dissolution occurring in the fluoride treated bones. Cortical bones from 18-month-old steers were treated in-vitro with 0.145, 0.5 and 2.0 M sodium fluoride (NaF) solutions for three days. The dissolved bone mineral precipitates as calcium fluoride-like (CaF2/P with some phosphate [P] ions) and fluorapatite(FAp)/fluorhydroxyapatite(FHAp)-like materials within the bone tissue. The dissolution estimated from the presence of the precipitated fluoride phases is 5.6, 11.7, and 13.1% of the initial bone mineral content for the 0.145 M, 0.5 M, and 2.0 M NaF treatments respectively. Estimates of dissolution based on the measurements of phosphate and carbonate ions are lower and higher respectively when compared to the fluoride ion measurements. The wet and dry densities decreased slightly due to dissolution and re-precipitation while the ash content (ratio of the ash weight to dry weight) increased a small amount with increasing concentration of fluoride ion treatments. The increased ash content was due to the excess loss of water in the fluoride treated bones as compare to controls (untreated bone samples) during the drying process. The increased removal of water during the drying process may explain the increased ash contents in some in-vivo treatments.

Changing the structurally effective mineral content of bone with in vitro fluoride treatment.

Bovine femur cortical bone specimens were tested in tension after being treated in vitro for 3 days with sodium fluoride solutions of different molarity (0.145, 0.5, and 2.0M). The treatments alter the mechanical properties of the bone samples with different degrees as compared to control samples (untreated). The mechanical properties of the treated samples have lower elastic modulus, yield and ultimate stress, acoustic impedance and hardness, and higher ultimate strain and toughness as compared to control samples. The observed effects were intensified with the increasing molarity of the treatment solutions. This study shows that the fluoride treatment can be used to investigate the composite behavior of bone tissue by altering the structurally important bone mineral content in a controlled manner.