Elastic modulus and its relation to apparent mineral density in juvenile equine bones of the lower limb

摘要: Density–modulus relationships are necessary to develop finite element models of bones that may be used to evaluate local tissue response to different physical activities. It is unknown if juvenile equine trabecular bone may be described by the same density-modulus as adult equine bone, and how the density-modulus relationship varies with anatomical location and loading direction. To answer these questions, trabecular bone cores from the third metacarpal (MC3) and proximal phalanx (P1) bones of juvenile horses (age< 1 yr) were machined in the longitudinal (n= 134) and transverse (n= 90) directions and mechanically tested in compression. Elastic modulus was related to apparent computed tomography density of each sample using power law regressions. We found that density-modulus relationships for juvenile equine trabecular bone were significantly different for each anatomical location (MC3 versus P1 …