Increased Calcium Content and Inhomogeneity of Mineralization Render Bone Toughness in Osteoporosis: A Study Focusing on the Mineralization, Morphology and Biomechanics of Human Single Trabeculae

Introduction: Numerous factors are considered to determine human bone quality. Particularly, volumetrically evaluated bone mineral density (DXABMD) as well as the mechanical properties of bone samples serve to assess fracture risks. However, the differentiation and degree of mineral content and/or morphology effects on bone toughness remained to a large extent unanswered due to large measuring fields containing several micro-architectural particularities (force transfer, trajectories, microcallus). Therefore, the combined analyses of three-point-bending tests and bone mineral density distribution (BMDD) were performed on single trabeculae as the least basic component of cancellous bone – to evaluate the respective effects of mineralization and morphology in terms of bone quality.