Bone Tissue Stiffness in Three Orthogonal Directions and its Dependence on Temperature
Poster Number
02
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Biology
Faculty Mentor
Meir Barak, Ph.D., D.V.M.
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to discover the effect of temperature on the stiffness of cortical bone. Four cortical bone cubes (2 mm on each side) were cut from the proximal medial diaphysis of five young white-tailed deer femora. The cubes were tested in compression three times: once at room temperature (20.4 °C), and then at cold (4 °C) and hot (70.5 °C) temperatures, respectively, in individual trials. The stiffness of each bone cube was measured in the axial, radial and transverse orientations. Our results demonstrated that hot and cold temperatures increased bone’s stiffness in the axial direction, but surprisingly had little effect on bone’s stiffness in the radial and transverse directions. Since higher bone stiffness in vivo may lead to increased risk of bone failure (i.e., fracture or shatter) extra care is needed (e.g., warming of lower extremities) when people train in extreme climate conditions.
Start Date
24-4-2015 3:20 PM
End Date
24-4-2015 4:50 PM
Bone Tissue Stiffness in Three Orthogonal Directions and its Dependence on Temperature
Richardson Ballroom
The purpose of this experiment was to discover the effect of temperature on the stiffness of cortical bone. Four cortical bone cubes (2 mm on each side) were cut from the proximal medial diaphysis of five young white-tailed deer femora. The cubes were tested in compression three times: once at room temperature (20.4 °C), and then at cold (4 °C) and hot (70.5 °C) temperatures, respectively, in individual trials. The stiffness of each bone cube was measured in the axial, radial and transverse orientations. Our results demonstrated that hot and cold temperatures increased bone’s stiffness in the axial direction, but surprisingly had little effect on bone’s stiffness in the radial and transverse directions. Since higher bone stiffness in vivo may lead to increased risk of bone failure (i.e., fracture or shatter) extra care is needed (e.g., warming of lower extremities) when people train in extreme climate conditions.
