Could the intraosseous fluid in cancellous bone bear external load significantly within the elastic range?

Abstract

Cancellous bone is a two-phase material comprising a porous solid and a fluid. The intraosseous fluid fills the voids of the porous solid and occupies more than 85 per cent of the volume of cancellous bone. Cancellous bone undergoes various loadings; therefore could the intraosseous fluid in cancellous bone bear external load significantly? To answer this question, a specific experimental setup representing the most restrictive fluid flow boundaries around a bovine vertebral cancellous bone sample was designed. Then, a quasi-static loading was applied up to the strain of 0.6 per cent as the measured intraosseous pressure changed in the undrained and drained conditions. A significant intraosseous pressure was generated in the undrained condition, but no intraosseous pressure generation was generated in the drained condition. The maximum external load-bearing capability of the intraosseous fluid in bovine vertebral cancellous bone at the strain of 0.6 per cent was about 66 per cent of the total load in the experimental setup used in this study.