A Microstructural Analysis for Preventive Treatments of Vertebral Fracture

척추 골절의 예방적 치료법에 관한 미세 구조해석

It is reported that the mechanical properties of vertebral trabecular bone depend on the density and the mass of bones. Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease caused by low bone mass and microstructure deterioration of trabecular bone. Silva and Gibson (1997) studied the treatment of age-related bone loss using drug therapy. Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of osteoporosis vertebrae. This procedure includes puncturing vertebrae and filling with Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). However, the relative effect of drug therapy and bone cement for osteoporosis treatment is not reported yet. In this study, several 2D models of human vertebral trabecular bone are analyzed by finite element method. The mechanical behaviors of the vertebral trabecular bone treated by the drug therapy and the bone cement are compared. This study shows that bone cement treatment is more effective strategy than drug therapy to prevent the degradation of bone strength.