Osteoporosis (OP) is a widespread condition with commonly associated fracture sites at the hip, vertebra and wrist. This study examines the effects of age and osteoporosis on bone quality by comparing the efficacy of using parameters which indicate bone quality (both traditional clinical parameters such as bone mineral density (BMD), as well as apparent Young's modulus determined by finite element analysis, among others) to predict fracture. Non-fracture samples were collected from the femoral heads of 83 donors (44 males, 39 females), and fracture samples were obtained from the femoral heads of 17 donors (female). Microarchitectural parameters (Bone Volume/Total Volume [BV/TV], Bone Surface/Bone Volume [BS/BV], Tissue Mineral Density [TMD, etc.]) were measured from μCT of each sample as well as 2D and 3D fractal dimension (D^2D and D^3D respectively). A cube was cropped from μCT images and an isotropic hexahedral element was assigned to each voxel. Finite element analysis was used to calculate the Young's modulus for each sample. Overall, values for microarchitectural characteristics, fractal dimension measurements and Young's Modulus were consistent with values within literature. Significant correlations are observed between age and BV/TV for non-fracture males and females, as well as between age and volumetric BMD (_vBMD) for the same groups. Significant differences are present between age-matched non-fracture and fracture females for BV/TV, BS/BV, _vBMD, TMD, D^2D, D^3D, (p < 0.01 for all). Properties which are not age dependent are significantly different between age-matched non-fracture and fracture specimens, indicating OP is a disease, and not just an accelerated aging process.

骨质疏松症（OP）是一种普遍存在的状况，在髋部，椎骨和手腕处通常伴有骨折部位。这项研究通过比较使用指示骨质量的参数（包括传统的临床参数，如骨矿物质密度（BMD）以及通过有限元分析确定的表观杨氏模量）的功效，研究了年龄和骨质疏松症对骨质量的影响。其他）来预测骨折。从83名供体（44名男性，39名女性）的股骨头中收集非骨折样品，并从17名供体（女性）的股骨头中获得骨折样品。通过每个样品的μCT以及2D和3D分形维数来测量微体系结构参数（骨骼体积/总体积[BV / TV]，骨骼表面/骨骼体积[BS / BV]，组织矿物质密度[TMD等]）。 （D^2D和D ^3D）。从μCT图像中裁剪出一个立方体，并将各向同性的六面体元素分配给每个体素。使用有限元分析来计算每个样品的杨氏模量。总体而言，微体系结构特征，分形维数测量值和杨氏模量的值与文献中的值一致。对于非骨折男性和女性，年龄与BV / TV之间存在显着相关性；对于同一组，年龄与体积BMD（_v BMD）之间存在显着相关性。对于BV / TV，BS / BV，_v BMD，TMD，D ^2D，D ^3D，年龄匹配的非骨折女性和骨折女性之间存在显着差异，（所有p均<0.01）。与年龄无关的特性在年龄匹配的非断裂试样和断裂试样之间存在显着差异，这表明OP是一种疾病，而不仅仅是加速老化过程。