Low amplitude and high frequency mechanical stimulation does not affect directly cell differentiation during bone healing

Ano: 2018 | Volume: 40 | Número: 1

Autores: Libardo Andrés González Torres, Stephani de Camilo e Alonso, Agnes Batista Meireles

Palavras-chave: mechanical stimulus; bone healing; finite element method

Resumo Inglês:

Bone fractures has high incidence numbers and despite all prejudice caused by this kind of injury, some bone healing process features are still unknown. In this work, it is computationally investigated the influence of low amplitude and high frequency mechanical stimulation on cell differentiation during bone healing, using a cell differentiation theory proposed including as mechanical variables strain and flow velocity of interstitial fluid. For this purpose, a finite element model was developed to study three hypothetical situations, aiming at determining in which proportion external mechanical influences bone healing. In the first hypothetical situation, the mechanical stimulus used in the model was computed as 20% of external mechanical stimulus and 80% of the stimulus during gait. Similarly, the second hypothetical situation was 50% external mechanical stimulus and 50% gait stimulus. Finally, the third hypothetical situation used a proportion of 80% external mechanical stimulus and 20% gait stimulus. The results indicated that hypothesis considering high proportions of external stimulation results in unreal delayed healing process and the first hypothetical situation proved to be that which best represents the real process, among the studied cases. From the results obtained in this work, it was concluded that external mechanical stimulation does not affected directly cell differentiation during bone healing. Thus, other processes such as flow of oxygen, nutrients or wastes must be considered.