To comprehend the most detrimental characteristics behind bone fractures, it is key to understand the material and tissue level strain limits and their relation to failure sites. The aim of this study was to investigate the three-dimensional strain distribution and its evolution during loading at the sub-trabecular level in trabecular bone tissue. Human cadaver trabecular bone samples were compressed in situ until failure, while imaging with high-resolution synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography. Digital volume correlation was used to determine the strains inside the trabeculae. Regions without emerging damage were compared to those about to crack. Local strains in close vicinity of developing cracks were higher than previously reported for a whole trabecular structure and similar to those reported for single isolated trabeculae. Early literature on bone fracture strain thresholds at the tissue level seem to underestimate the maximum strain magnitudes in trabecular bone. Furthermore, we found lower strain levels and a reduced ability to capture detailed crack-paths with increased image voxel size. This highlights the dependence between the observed strain levels and the voxel size and that high-resolution is needed to investigate behavior of individual trabeculae. Furthermore, low trabecular thickness appears to be one predictor of developing cracks. In summary, this study investigated the local strains in whole trabecular structure at sub-trabecular resolution in human bone and confirmed the high strain magnitudes reported for single trabeculae under loading and, importantly extends its translation to the whole trabecular structure.

We have tracked the structural evolution of the monoolein bicontinuous cubic phase under in meso crystallogenesis conditions. Significantly, all measurements have been carried out in situ within a crystallisation plate reproducing the exact conditions during a crystallisation trial. The structure of the MO cubic phase, doped with a small concentration of amyloid-beta peptide, was measured 1 day, 5 days, 7 days and 21 days after addition of PACT crystallisation screen, which systematically varies cation, anion, pH and polyethylene glycol (PEG). The components of the screen had a significant impact on the structure of the cubic phase. We have rationalised the structural variation with respect to the effect of the individual screen components. Specifically addition of higher M_w PEG effected a transition from a diamond cubic phase (Q_II ^D) to a gyroid cubic phase (Q_II ^G) across the majority of the plate and the Q_II ^G phase became more prevalent with time. The effect of individual salts was correlated with their position in the Hofmeister series. Changes in pH and buffer system had a more minor effect on mesophase structure. We have discussed the implications of the observed structural changes with respect to the putative mechanism of protein crystal growth within a lipidic cubic phase.

Most acetabular cups implanted today are press-fit impacted cementless. Anchorage begins with the primary stability given by insertion of a slightly oversized cup. This primary stability is key to obtaining bone ingrowth and secondary stability. We tested the hypothesis that primary stability of the cup is related to surface roughness of the implant, using both an experimental and a numerical models to analyze how three levels of surface roughness (micro, macro and combined) affect the primary stability of the cup. We also investigated the effect of differences in diameter between the cup and its substrate, and of insertion force, on the cups' primary stability. The results of our study show that primary stability depends on the surface roughness of the cup. The presence of macro-roughness on the peripheral ring is found to decrease primary stability; there was excessive abrasion of the substrate, damaging it and leading to poor primary stability. Numerical modeling indicates that oversizing the cup compared to its substrate has an impact on primary stability, as has insertion force.