a 3 dimensional computer model to simulate trabecular bone metabolism.pdfVIP

Biorheology 40 2003 315–320 315 IOS Press A 3-dimensional computer model to simulate trabecular bone metabolism Ronald Ruimerman a,?, Bert van Rietbergen b , Peter Hilbers a and Rik Huiskes b a Faculty of Mathematics and Computing Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands b Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Abstract. Mechanical loading of trabecular bone affects the bone architecture. Bone mass is correlated to the magnitude of the external load and trabeculae are aligned to the loading direction. Physical exercise increases bone mass while disuse or microgravity decreases it. In previous work we have presented a mathematical model of bone metabolism that could explain the emergence, maintenance and adaptation of trabecular bone under in?uence of the load imposed, using a 2-dimensional computer model Huiskes et al., Nature 404 2000 , 704–706 . This model was based on hypothetical mathematical descriptions of bone formation by osteoblastic cells, and resorption by osteoclastic cells, both as governed by mechanical stimuli. In order to quantitatively compare the behavior of the proposed regulation mechanism to real trabecular bone metabolism we present a 3-dimensional computer simulation model. The ?rst 3-dimensional simulation results show that the regulatory rules proposed earlier mimic trabecular bone metabolism in a robust way. 1. Introduction Trabecular bone is a structure thought to be optimal in terms of strength and stiffness with respect to weight. It is known that mechanical forces affect bone mass and architecture [3,6,7,9,14–16,19]. Trabecu- lae are oriented in the mechanical loading direction and bone mass is correlated to the loading magnitude. It is assumed that trabecular bone is a mechanosensitive structure capable of translating external loading to internal redesign of the tissue architecture. Bone resorbing cells, called osteoc