[Mechanical properties of therapeutic sand upon femur and its finite element analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the mechanical properties of therapeutic sand for femur used in the Uygur medicine. METHODS: Rabbits were randomly divided into the treatment group and the control group. Rabbits of both groups had arthritis. No treatment was carried out for the control group. Only sand therapy was offered for the treatment group. After sand therapy was completed, rabbits specimen were removed and grouped. The NJ-100B device was employed to measure the femur tensile and compressive strength and the analysis of finite element performed upon the experimental data. RESULTS: At different sand temperatures below 55 degrees C, there was no significant difference in maximal stress and elastic modulus of tensile/compressive/bending of each femur sample. CONCLUSION: Under different temperatures, the in vitro heating has no obvious effect upon the bio-mechanical performance of bone tissues. The static tensile strength of ex vivo femur shows no obvious decline. And the compressive strengthen improves somewhat over the normal group.

Effects of the sand therapy of Uyghur Traditional Medicine on cytokines of the experimental knee osteoarthritis in rabbit / 中国康复理论与实践

@#ObjectiveTo study the effects of the sand therapy of Uyghur Traditional Medicine on cytokines,such as interleukin-1β(IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), nitric oxide(NO) of the rabbit experimental knee osteoarthritis. Methods27 rabbits were injected papain into the joint space of right knee, and divided randomly into three groups. 15 d after the articular injection, the rabbits of group Ⅰ were treated with the sand therapy, the rabbits of group Ⅱ were treated with fenbid, and Ⅲ group accepted no treatment for the blank control.15 d after treatment, the serum and the douche fluid of the diseased joints were obtained to measure the level of IL-1β,TNF-α and NO. The synovium and the cartilage was observed histopathologically.ResultsCompare with group Ⅱ and Ⅲ, the pathological changes of cartilage and synovitis in group Ⅰ lighten significantly. Compare with groupⅢ,the level of IL-1β, TNF-α in articular douche fluid and NO in serum of group Ⅰ and Ⅱ decreased significantly. ConclusionThe sand therapy can decrease the level of cytokines in the focus joints, which may play a role of treatment in osteoarthritis.