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Skeleton

This document summarizes key points about the physics of the skeleton. It discusses the functions and composition of bone, including how bones are able to withstand both compressive and tensile forces. It describes how bone strength decreases with age, potentially leading to osteoporosis and fractures. It also outlines various imaging techniques used to measure bone mineral density in vivo, important for assessing osteoporosis risk.

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98 views

Skeleton

This document summarizes key points about the physics of the skeleton. It discusses the functions and composition of bone, including how bones are able to withstand both compressive and tensile forces. It describes how bone strength decreases with age, potentially leading to osteoporosis and fractures. It also outlines various imaging techniques used to measure bone mineral density in vivo, important for assessing osteoporosis risk.

Uploaded by

Anonymous x62KIL4x
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Medical Physics Chapter 3 Physics of the Skeleton

Chapter 3 Physics of the Skeleton

l Dealing with static and dynamic loading forces


m Shape of a bone
m Type of bony tissue
l Functions of bone
m Support: bones + tendons and ligaments + muscles
m Locomotion: bone joints (hinges or articulations)
m Protection of various organs: skull, ribs, spinal column
m Storage of chemicals: control of calcium in blood
m Nourishment: deciduous (baby) teeth and permanent teeth
m Sound transmission: ossicles in the middle ear impedance matching between
sound in air and sound in the fluid in the cochlea
l Bone as a living tissue
m Blood supply and nerve
m Osteocytes
Ÿ Cells that maintain the bone in a healthy condition
Ÿ 2% of the volume of bone
Ÿ Poor blood supply ⇒ osteocytes die ⇒ bone dies ⇒ loss of its strength
Ÿ Aseptic necrosis: bone cells in the hip die ⇒ artificial joint
m Bone remodeling by specialized bone cells
Ÿ Osteoclasts destroy the bone by about 0.5 g of calcium each day
Ÿ Osteoblasts build the bone by about 0.5 g of calcium each day
Ÿ Bones have about 1000 g of calcium ⇒ new skeleton in every seven years
equivalently
Ÿ Osteoblasts dominate until 35 to 40 years old
Ÿ Osteoporosis: porous bones in older women, Fig. 3.4(c) ⇒ fractures

3.1 What is Bone Made of?

m Composition of compact bone: Table 3.1


Ÿ Large percentage of calcium with heavier nucleus ⇒ high x-ray absorption
(Fig. 3.2)

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Medical Physics Chapter 3 Physics of the Skeleton

Ÿ Bone = collagen + bone mineral + water


m Collagen
Ÿ Major organic fraction, 40% of the weight of solid bone and 60% of its volume
Ÿ Collagen remainder: flexible and bends easily, large tensile strength (Fig. 3.3)
Ÿ Produced by osteoblastic cells
m Bone mineral
Ÿ Bone mineral remainder: fragile, can be crushed with fingers
Ÿ Formed on the collagen
Ÿ Made up of calcium hydroxyapatite L Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2
Ÿ Very large surface area of 4×105 m2 ⇒ rapid interaction with chemicals in the
blood and other boy fluids

3.2 How Strong are Your Bones?

m Shapes of bones
Ÿ Flat, plate-like bones: shoulder blade (scapula), some bones of the skull, etc.
Ÿ Long hollow bones: bones in the arms, legs, and fingers
Ÿ Cylindrical bones: bones from the spine (vertebrae)
Ÿ Irregular bones: bones from the wrist and ankle
Ÿ Other bones: ribs, etc.
m Types of bones
Ÿ Solid or compact bones
ù Found in the central shaft of bones
Ÿ Spongy or cancellous bones (trabecular bones)
ù Found at the ends of long bones
ù Weaker than compact bones
m Stress: force per unit area, σ = F A
ŸTension: pulling it apart
ŸCompression: pushing it together
ŸI beam: support beam with a less amount of material, Fig. 3.5(b)
ŸHollow cylinder: maximum strength with a less amount of material for forces
from any direction, Fig. 3.5(c)
m Strain: fractional change in length due to stress, ε = ∆L L
m Hooke’s law: σ = Yε , stress-strain diagram in Fig. 3.7

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Medical Physics Chapter 3 Physics of the Skeleton

σ LF
m Young’s modulus, Y = = : Table 3.2 and Example 3.1
ε A∆L
m Femur (Fig. 3.4)
Ÿ Hollow cylinder
Ÿ Compact bone of the shaft of the femur is thickest in the center to prevent
buckling
Ÿ Trabecular pattern at the ends Fig. 3.6
ù Strength with a less amount of material than compact bone for compressive
forces
ù Absorb more energy when large forces are involved (walking, running, and
jumping)
ù Weak for bending stresses that occur mostly in the center of long bone
m Mechanical properties of bone
Ÿ Combination of two materials (bone mineral and collagen)
ù As strong as granite in compression
ù 25 times stronger that granite under tention
Ÿ Density of compact bone
ù About 1.9 g/cm3 (1.9 times as dense as water)
ù Constant throughout life even in old age
ùIn old age, the bone becomes more porous and thinner (Fig. 3.4) ⇒ reduced
strength
Ÿ Ultimate tensile stress: 120 N/mm2 or 17,000 lb/in2
m Forces on the bone and safety factor
Ÿ Running ⇒ four times the body weight on the hip bone when the heel strikes
the ground
Ÿ Normal walking ⇒ two times the body weight on the hip bone when the heel
strikes the ground
Ÿ Stiff-legged landing ⇒ about 1.42×105 N or 32,000 lb ⇒ 215 N/mm2 (31,000
lb/in2) for each tibia with 3.3 cm2 in area at the ankle ⇒ may result in a fracture
if the force is applied for enough time
Ÿ Viscoelasticity: withstand a large force for a short period
Ÿ Safety factor
ù 10 times the maximum expected force in most engineering design
ù Ultimate compressive stress of compact bone = 170 N/mm2 (Table 3.2) ⇒
midshaft of the femur with cross-sectional area of 3.3 cm2 can withstand
about 5.7×104 N or 6 tons

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Medical Physics Chapter 3 Physics of the Skeleton

m Fractures
Ÿ Shear stress, Fig. 3.9(a) ⇒ shear or spiral fracture, compound fracture, easy to
be infected
Ÿ Tensile stress, Fig. 3.9 (c): bone has a smaller ultimate stress for tension than
compression (Table 3.2)
Ÿ Repair requires immobilization ⇒ metal prosthetic hip joints, pins, nails, etc
(Fig. 3.10)
Ÿ Electrical stimulation provides faster healing

3.3 Lubrication of Bone Joints

m Boosted lubrication
Ÿ Rough articular cartilage traps some of the synovial fluid (lubricant), Fig. 3.11
Ÿ Stress ⇒ lubricating material is squeezed into the joint from the articular
cartilage
Ÿ No stress ⇒ articular cartilage pulls back lubricating material into its holes
m Viscosity of synovial fluid: large shear stress ⇒ decreased viscosity ⇒ better
lubricant
m Coefficient of friction of a joint (Fig. 3.12)
Ÿ Independent of the load from 89 to 890 N (20 to 200 lb)
Ÿ Fat in the cartilage helps to reduce the friction
Ÿ For healthy joints, the coefficient of friction is less than 0.01 (0.03 for steel
blade on ice)
Ÿ Without synovial fluid, the coefficient of friction increases.

3.4 Measurement of Bone Mineral in the Body

m In vivo versus in vitro


m Mass of bone mineral
Ÿ Determines strength of bone
Ÿ Decreases slowly, 1 to 2% per year
Ÿ Osteoporosis: lower bone mineral mass
m Problems in measuring bone mineral mass using conventional x-ray (Fig. 3.13)
Ÿ X-ray beam has many different energies and x-ray absorption by calcium
changes with x-ray energy
Ÿ X-ray scattering

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Medical Physics Chapter 3 Physics of the Skeleton

Ÿ Film is a poor detector with nonlinear characteristics


m Measuring bone mineral mass using photon absorptiometry (Fig. 3.14)
Ÿ Monoenergetic x-ray or gamma ray
Ÿ Narrow beam to minimize scattering
Ÿ Scintillation detector
I 0*
Ÿ Fig. 3.15: bone mineral mass (BM) = k log( ) , g/cm2
I
Ÿ Modern bone scanner or bone densitometer in Fig. 3.17: reproducibility of 1 to
2%

l Homework
m Review questions: #9, #12

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