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The role of fluid flow on bone mechanobiology: mathematical modeling and simulation

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Abstract

The effect of fluid flow on tissue adaptation was the focus of many research works during the last years. Moreover, the use of poroelasticity models to simulate and understand the interstitial flow movement has taken interest due to the possibility to include the fluid effect on mechanical simulations. In particular, shear stresses induced by bone canalicular fluid flow are suggested to be one of the mechanical stimulus controlling bone remodeling processes. Due to the high difficulty to measure canalicular fluid flow and shear stresses, computational poroelastic models can be used in order to estimate these parameters. In this work, a finite element dual porosity model based on Russian doll poroelasticity is developed. Two experiments with a turkey ulna and a human femur are simulated. Bone lacuno-canalicular fluid flow is computed and compared with the experimental results, focusing on the zones of bone remodeling and showing a relation between this flow and the bone formation process.

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Funding

This study is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness throug research projects DPI2017-84780-C2-1-R, and RTI2018-094494-B393C21, and by Aragón Government (T50_17R).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Universitario de la Defensa de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50090, Spain

    María Teresa Sánchez

  2. Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Matemáticas y Aplicaciones (IUMA), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    María Teresa Sánchez

  3. M2BE-Multiscale in Mechanical and Biological Engineering, Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería de Aragón (I3A), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IIS Aragón), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    María Ángeles Pérez & José Manuel García-Aznar

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  1. María Teresa Sánchez
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  2. María Ángeles Pérez
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  3. José Manuel García-Aznar
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Correspondence to María Teresa Sánchez.

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Sánchez, M.T., Pérez, M.Á. & García-Aznar, J.M. The role of fluid flow on bone mechanobiology: mathematical modeling and simulation. Comput Geosci 25, 823–830 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-020-09945-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-020-09945-6

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