Variation of biomechanical properties of newly formed bone tissue determined by nanoindentation as a function of healing time

摘要

Titanium implants are now routinely used clinically and their development has allowed considerable progresses in dental and orthopaedic surgery. After a surgical intervention, remodelling phenomena normally occur, leading to the creation of newly formed bone tissue to accommodate the implant. The mechanical properties of bone tissue located at approximately 100-200 jx,m from the implant surface are determinant for the quality of osseointegration (Luo et al. 1999; Mathieu et al. 2010). A better understanding and characterisation of the evolution of biomechanical properties of bone tissue at the microscopic scale may lead to more accurate prediction of implant osseointegration (Winter et al. 2004). Such microscopic measurements can be done using different techniques. Scanning acoustic microscopy has been used to assess bone acoustical properties in-vitro with a resolution of around 30-60 jim (Meunier et al. 1988). More recently, a study published by our group (Mathieu et al. In press) used a micro-Brillouin scattering technique to characterise the elastic properties of newly formed bone tissue. Nanoindentation is also likely to be used to retrieve hardness and Young's modulus at the microscopic scale. The aim of this paper was to investigate the biomechanical properties of newly formed bone in the vicinity of an implant using nanoindentation.