Faculty Collaboration Database

Mechanical characterization of fourth generation composite humerus. Proc Inst Mech Eng H 2011 Dec;225(12):1169-76

Date

02/11/2012

Pubmed ID

22320056

DOI

10.1177/0954411911423346

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84862637857 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   42 Citations

Abstract

Mechanical data on upper extremity surrogate bones, supporting use as biomechanical tools, is limited. The objective of this study was to characterize the structural behaviour of the fourth-generation composite humerus under simulated physiologic bending, specifically, stiffness, rigidity, and mid-diaphysial surface strains. Three humeri were tested in four-point bending, in anatomically defined anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) planes. Stiffness and rigidity were derived using load-displacement data. Principal strains were determined at the anterior, posterior, medial, and lateral surfaces in the humeral mid-diaphysial transverse plane of one specimen using stacked rosettes. Linear structural behaviour was observed within the test range. Average stiffness and rigidity were greater in the ML (918 +/- 18 N/mm; 98.4 +/- 1.9 Nm2) than the AP plane (833 +/- 16 N/mm; 89.3 +/- 1.6 Nm2), with little inter-specimen variability. The ML/AP rigidity ratio was 1.1. Surface principal strains were similar at the anterior (5.41 micro epsilon/N) and posterior (5.43 micro epsilon/N) gauges for AP bending, and comparatively less for ML bending, i.e. 5.1 and 4.5 micro epsilon/N, at the medial and lateral gauges, respectively. This study provides novel strain and stiffness data for the fourth-generation composite humerus and also adds to published construct rigidity data. The presented results support the use of this composite bone as a tool for modelling and experimentation.

Author List

Grover P, Albert C, Wang M, Harris GF

Authors

Gerald Harris PhD Director in the Orthopaedic Research Engineering Center (OREC) department at Marquette University
Gerald F. Harris Emeritus Professor in the Orthopaedic Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Mei Wang PhD Associate Professor in the Orthopaedic Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Biomechanical Phenomena
Bone Substitutes
Diaphyses
Elasticity
Humans
Humerus
Models, Anatomic
Models, Biological
Prostheses and Implants
Stress, Mechanical
Tensile Strength
Weight-Bearing