Credit score: Journal of the Mechanical Conduct of Biomedical Supplies (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2025.107043
Metallic screws are indispensable in bone surgical procedure, however they’ll fail beneath on a regular basis stress and problems can happen when screws loosen and even break. Till now, it has been troublesome to precisely predict this danger as a result of testing strategies haven’t been in a position to simulate the actual stresses within the physique.
Now, a brand new research revealed within the Journal of the Mechanical Conduct of Biomedical Supplies reveals that the danger of failure will be predicted earlier than implantation based mostly on detailed measurements of bone construction.
Utilizing high-resolution micro-CT scans, a staff of researchers analyzed 100 bone samples beneath 10 completely different load situations and recognized two key elements that designate as much as 90% of the variation in stability. The research, led by the Division of Biomechanics on the Division of Anatomy and Biomechanics at Karl Landsteiner College of Well being Sciences (KL Krems), thus supplies a mannequin for quite a few orthopedic procedures, permitting screws to be implanted extra reliably and serving to to keep away from subsequent problems.
Bones reveal their secret
“We wanted to know if it is possible to predict, even before a screw is implanted, whether it will fail under the forces that are to be expected later,” explains Ass.-Prof. DI Dr. Andreas Reisinger, Head of the Division Biomechanics on the KL Krems. “And our answer is yes—and with astonishing precision.”
Utilizing a micro-computed tomography (CT) scanner within the Bone Laboratory of KL Krems, the staff first analyzed the bone buildings across the deliberate implant websites. After implantation, the screws have been subjected to load checks simulating on a regular basis actions equivalent to strolling or lifting. The outcome: Bones with increased quantity and denser construction present considerably extra help for the screws—no matter the kind of load.
A complete of 100 samples of pig bones—that are similar to human bones—have been examined. The screws have been subjected to 10 completely different loading situations, together with axial (stress and compression), shear, and blended loading. Six bone parameters have been measured. Amongst these, bone quantity (BV) and bone quantity fraction (BV/TV—the ratio of bone tissue to whole tissue within the examined space) proved to be dependable predictors of the drive at which a screw would fail.
Dependable predictions
Utilizing information from the micro-CT photos and the measured failure forces of the screws, the staff developed two statistical laptop prediction fashions: one based mostly on bone quantity alone, and the opposite combining a number of bone parameters in a stepwise method. Each fashions demonstrated spectacular predictive energy.
“In all scenarios, we measured the amount of force required for the implanted screws to fail,” explains Prof. Reisinger. “This, of course, varied greatly from sample to sample. And we were able to explain 70—90% of this variance with our models. This is a very clear confirmation of our calculations, which now allow us to make predictions.”
In actual fact, surgeons might use this info to determine essentially the most secure screw positions within the bone and scale back the danger of later loosening or fracture.
The outcomes of the research at KL Krems open up new views for personalised orthopedics. Particularly for older folks or sufferers with osteoporosis, extra exact predictions can result in safer and more practical fixation of broken bones. The work at KL Krems underlines the worth of mixing engineering and medication—and the way trendy prediction fashions may help enhance therapy outcomes.
Extra info:
Juan D. Silva-Henao et al, Predicting osteosynthesis screw failure by peri-implant bone morphology in a number of loading circumstances, Journal of the Mechanical Conduct of Biomedical Supplies (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2025.107043
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Karl Landsteiner College of Well being Sciences
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Bone construction mannequin reveals optimum place for screws in fractures (2025, June 3)
retrieved 4 June 2025
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