750 Trabecular bone remodeling simulation considering interstitial fluid flow

Abstract

Cancellous bone tissue adapts its mass and structure to functional stress by trabecular surface remodeling. Bone remodeling is accomplished by cellular activities under the influence of mechanical stimuli. Due to evidences emerging from recent researches, the hypothesis that osteocytes sense interstitial fluid shear stresses acting on the membranes of their osteocytic processes is gaining credibility. Our objective is to establish a computational bone remodeling model based on this hypothesis. First, the load-induced fluid shear stress in a trabecula considered as a poroelastic material was calculated using a finite element method. Second, the spatial and temporal regulation of the trabecular structure was simulated by taking fluid shear stresses to be the driving force for bone remodeling. These results suggest that our computational simulation could quantitatively express the functional adaptation of a trabecula.