Center for Bone Biology

 Assessing Fracture Repair

After completion of a fracture experiment, we first quantify callus maturity with micro-computed tomography and then callus strength with biomechanical testing.  We seek insight into how the drug therapy or genetic manipulation is affecting the biomechanical properties of bone.

Here are three orthogonal images of rat fracture callus along with 3D rendering.  Typically, the region of interest (ROI) is 3.2 mm above and below the fracture line.	Three point bending generates a force-displacement curve from which we determine biomechanical properties as maximum force (structural strength).