Despite the fact that we implemented the mathematical model in a computer code from scratch, final configurations obtained in this research are very similarto the ones obtained by Huiskes and co-workers [4], The differences between the figures shown here and the figures from [4] are due to a difference in the time constants. Even though, this research showed that including effect of cellular accommodation would not change the final morphology when time constant τ in Eq. (2) is large enough; but, it must be considered in the simulations, because it shows how long a load will be effective in the remodeling process. The most significant result of this work is capturing simultaneous effects of disuse and microdamge on bone remodeling. In order to include the effect of microdamge on bone remodeling we proposed a quadratic relationship based on experimental findings of Nagaraja et al. [8]. From results of our simulations, it was proposed that remodeling is regulated by both SED and damage; but damage-stimulated remodeling is prioritized over SED-stimulated remodeling when stimulus is above a critical level. A physiological mechanism for such a mechanoregulatory system could involve osteocyte apoptosis with remodeling in response to damage over-riding SED-adaptive remodeling at high damage levels [5]. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm of disuse- and damage-stimulated remodeling seems to present a realistic computational algorithm for simulation of trabecular bone remodeling.
展开▼
