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Mechanical loading of bone defects with biomaterials
Bone injuries and defects requiring treatment are commonly treated with synthetic bone graft substitutes. However, a current challenge is understanding how such voids and biomaterials influence the transfer of strain, and ultimately healing. This project aims to model such changes.
Keywords: Bone healing, micro-FE, bone loading, biomaterials.
Bone tissue engineering commonly considers three factors, cells, signals and scaffolds. However, bone is also highly influenced by the vascularity and mechanical loads present. Little is known about the interactions between these factors, and forms the basis of the project.
The project will use micro-computed tomography to image mouse vertebrae with and without defects, and with and without biomaterials. These will then be used as the input images for micro-FE analyses, on to which loading will be simulated that corresponds to the loading applied to the actual animal. The aim is to understand how defects and biomaterials influence the mechanical properties of the system, especially in the axial loading direction. Such information will allow us to correlate of strain at the micro-scale, to changes in vascularity and new bone formation.
Bone tissue engineering commonly considers three factors, cells, signals and scaffolds. However, bone is also highly influenced by the vascularity and mechanical loads present. Little is known about the interactions between these factors, and forms the basis of the project.
The project will use micro-computed tomography to image mouse vertebrae with and without defects, and with and without biomaterials. These will then be used as the input images for micro-FE analyses, on to which loading will be simulated that corresponds to the loading applied to the actual animal. The aim is to understand how defects and biomaterials influence the mechanical properties of the system, especially in the axial loading direction. Such information will allow us to correlate of strain at the micro-scale, to changes in vascularity and new bone formation.
Develop a reliable model and workflow that estimates strains within the bone, and accounts for the bone void and biomaterial placement when simulating such loads.
Develop a reliable model and workflow that estimates strains within the bone, and accounts for the bone void and biomaterial placement when simulating such loads.
Angad Malhotra, angad.malhotra@hest.ethz.ch, Institute for Biomechanics, ETH Zürich, Professorship Ralph Müller
Angad Malhotra, angad.malhotra@hest.ethz.ch, Institute for Biomechanics, ETH Zürich, Professorship Ralph Müller