The effects of tensile-compressive loading mode and microarchitecture on microdamage in human vertebral cancellous bone

The amount of microdamage in bone tissue impairs mechanical performance and may act as a stimulus for bone remodeling. Here we determine how loading mode (tension vs. compression) and microstructure (trabecular microarchitecture, local trabecular thickness, and presence of resorption cavities) influence the number and volume of microdamage sites generated in cancellous bone following a single overload. Twenty paired cylindrical specimens of human vertebral cancellous bone from 10 donors (47–78 years) were mechanically loaded to apparent yield in either compression or tension, and imaged in three dimensions for microarchitecture and microdamage (voxel size 0.7×0.7×5.0 μm³). We found that the overall proportion of damaged tissue was greater (p=0.01) for apparent tension loading (3.9±2.4%, mean±SD) than for apparent compression loading (1.9±1.3%). Individual microdamage sites generated in tension were larger in volume (p<0.001) but not more numerous (p=0.64) than sites in compression. For both loading modes, the proportion of damaged tissue varied more across donors than with bone volume fraction, traditional measures of microarchitecture (trabecular thickness, trabecular separation, etc.), apparent Young?s modulus, or strength. Microdamage tended to occur in regions of greater trabecular thickness but not near observable resorption cavities. Taken together, these findings indicate that, regardless of loading mode, accumulation of microdamage in cancellous bone after monotonic loading to yield is influenced by donor characteristics other than traditional measures of microarchitecture, suggesting a possible role for tissue material properties.     

Three-dimensional micro-level computational study of Wolff's law via trabecular bone remodeling in the human proximal femur using design space topology optimization

The law of bone remodeling, commonly referred to as Wolff's Law, asserts that the internal trabecular bone adapts to external loadings, reorienting with the principal stress trajectories to maximize mechanical efficiency creating a naturally optimum structure. The goal of the current study was to utilize an advanced structural optimization algorithm, called design space optimization (DSO), to perform a micro-level three-dimensional finite element bone remodeling simulation on the human proximal femur and analyse the results to determine the validity of Wolff's hypothesis. DSO optimizes the layout of material by iteratively distributing it into the areas of highest loading, while simultaneously changing the design domain to increase computational efficiency. The result is a "fully stressed" structure with minimized compliance and increased stiffness. The large-scale computational simulation utilized a 175 μm mesh resolution and the routine daily loading activities of walking and stair climbing. The resulting anisotropic trabecular architecture was compared to both Wolff's trajectory hypothesis and natural femur samples from literature using a variety of visualization techniques, including radiography and computed tomography (CT). The results qualitatively revealed several anisotropic trabecular regions, that were comparable to the natural human femurs. Quantitatively, the various regional bone volume fractions from the computational results were consistent with quantitative CT analyses. The global strain energy proceeded to become more uniform during optimization; implying increased mechanical efficiency was achieved. The realistic simulated trabecular geometry suggests that the DSO method can accurately predict bone adaptation due to mechanical loading and that the proximal femur is an optimum structure as the Wolff hypothesized.     

Computational study of Wolff's law with trabecular architecture in the human proximal femur using topology optimization

In the field of bone adaptation, it is believed that the morphology of bone is affected by its mechanical loads, and bone has self-optimizing capability; this phenomenon is well known as Wolff's law of the transformation of bone. In this paper, we simulated trabecular bone adaptation in the human proximal femur using topology optimization and quantitatively investigated the validity of Wolff's law. Topology optimization iteratively distributes material in a design domain producing optimal layout or configuration, and it has been widely and successfully used in many engineering fields. We used a two-dimensional micro-FE model with 50 microm pixel resolution to represent the full trabecular architecture in the proximal femur, and performed topology optimization to study the trabecular morphological changes under three loading cases in daily activities. The simulation results were compared to the actual trabecular architecture in previous experimental studies. We discovered that there are strong similarities in trabecular patterns between the computational results and observed data in the literature. The results showed that the strain energy distribution of the trabecular architecture became more uniform during the optimization; from the viewpoint of structural topology optimization, this bone morphology may be considered as an optimal structure. We also showed that the non-orthogonal intersections were constructed to support daily activity loadings in the sense of optimization, as opposed to Wolff's drawing.     

Dependence of yield strain of human trabecular bone on anatomic site

Understanding the dependence of human trabecular bone strength behavior on anatomic site provides insight into structure-function relationships and is essential to the increased success of site-specific finite element models of whole bones. To investigate the hypothesis that the yield strains of human trabecular bone depend on anatomic site, the uniaxial tensile and compressive yield properties were compared for cylindrical specimens from the vertebra (n=61), proximal tibia (n=31), femoral greater trochanter (n=23), and femoral neck (n=27) taken from 61 donors (67+/-15years). Test protocols were used that minimized end artifacts and loaded specimens along the main trabecular orientation. Yield strains by site (mean+/-S.D.) ranged from 0.70+/-0.05% for the trochanter to 0.85+/-0.10% for the femoral neck in compression, from 0.61+/-0.05% for the trochanter to 0.70+/-0.05% for the vertebra in tension, and were always higher in compression than tension (p<0.001). The compressive yield strain was higher for the femoral neck than for all other sites (p<0.001), as was the tensile yield strain for the vertebra (p<0.007). Analysis of covariance, with apparent density as the covariate, indicated that inter-site differences existed in yield stress even after adjusting statistically for density (p<0.035). Coefficients of variation in yield strain within each site ranged from only 5-12%, consistent with the strong linear correlations (r(2)=0.94-0.98) found between yield stress and modulus. These results establish that the yield strains of human trabecular bone can differ across sites, but that yield strain may be considered uniform within a given site despite substantial variation in elastic modulus and yield stress.     

Trabecular structure compared to stress trajectories in the proximal femur and the calcaneus

The theory that the trabecular structure within bones follows the principal stress trajectories, is investigated by two-dimensional finite element models of increasing complexity. This is done for the proximal femur of the human and for the calcaneus of the horse. In both cases, a simple model with well-chosen loading and boundary conditions gives good agreement between the observed trabecular structure and the calculated stress trajectories. It is shown that this stress trajectory theory has a mechanically founded explanation.     

Cortical Bone Morphological and Trabecular Bone Microarchitectural Changes in the Mandible and Femoral Neck of Ovariectomized Rats

ObjectiveThis study used microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) to evaluate the effects of ovariectomy on the trabecular bone microarchitecture and cortical bone morphology in the femoral neck and mandible of female rats.ResultsRegarding the trabecular bone microarchitectural parameters, the BV/TV of the trabecular bone microarchitecture in the femoral necks of the control group (61.199±11.288%, median ± interquartile range) was significantly greater than that of the ovariectomized group (40.329±5.153%). Similarly, the BV/TV of the trabecular bone microarchitecture in the mandibles of the control group (51.704±6.253%) was significantly greater than that of the ovariectomized group (38.486±9.111%). Furthermore, the TbSp of the femoral necks in the ovariectomized group (0.185±0.066 mm) was significantly greater than that in the control group (0.130±0.026mm). Similarly, the TbSp of the mandibles in the ovariectomized group (0.322±0.047mm) was significantly greater than that in the control group (0.285±0.041mm). However, the TbTh and TbN trends for the mandibles and femoral necks were inconsistent between the control and ovariectomized groups. Regarding the cortical bone morphology parameters, the TtAr of the femoral necks in the ovariectomized group was significantly smaller than that in the control group. There was no significant difference in the TtAr, CtAr, or CtTh of the femoral necks between the control and ovariectomized groups, and no significant difference in the CtTh of the mandibles between the control and ovariectomized groups. Moreover, the BV/TV and TbSp of the mandibles were highly correlated with those of the femurs (r_s = 0.874 and r_s = 0.755 for BV/TV and TbSp, respectively). Nevertheless, the TbTh, TbN, and CtTh of the mandibles were not correlated with those of the femoral necks.ConclusionAfter the rats were ovariectomized, osteoporosis of the trabecular bone microarchitecture occurred in their femurs and mandibles; however, ovariectomy did not influence the cortical bone morphology. In addition, the parametric values of the trabecular bone microarchitecture in the femoral necks were highly correlated with those of the trabecular bone microarchitecture in the mandibles.     

The role of fabric in the large strain compressive behavior of human trabecular bone

Osteoporosis-related vertebral body fractures involve large compressive strains of trabecular bone. The small strain mechanical properties of the trabecular bone such as the elastic modulus or ultimate strength can be estimated using the volume fraction and a second order fabric tensor, but it remains unclear if similar estimations may be extended to large strain properties. Accordingly, the aim of this work is to identify the role of volume fraction and especially fabric in the large strain compressive behavior of human trabecular bone from various anatomical locations. Trabecular bone biopsies were extracted from human T12 vertebrae (n=31), distal radii (n=43), femoral head (n=44), and calcanei (n=30), scanned using microcomputed tomography to quantify bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and the fabric tensor (M), and tested either in unconfined or confined compression up to very large strains (～70%). The mechanical parameters of the resulting stress-strain curves were analyzed using regression models to examine the respective influence of BV/TV and fabric eigenvalues. The compressive stress-strain curves demonstrated linear elasticity, yielding with hardening up to an ultimate stress, softening toward a minimum stress, and a steady rehardening followed by a rapid densification. For the pooled experiments, the average minimum stress was 1.89 ± 1.77 MPa, while the corresponding mean strain was 7.15 ± 1.84%. The minimum stress showed a weaker dependence with fabric as the elastic modulus or ultimate strength. For the confined experiments, the stress at a logarithmic strain of 1.2 was 8.08 ± 7.91 MPa, and the dissipated energy density was 5.67 ± 4.42 MPa. The latter variable was strongly related to the volume fraction (R(2)=0.83) but the correlation improved only marginally with the inclusion of fabric (R(2)=0.84). The influence of fabric on the mechanical properties of human trabecular bone decreases with increasing strain, while the role of volume fraction remains important. In particular, the ratio of the minimum versus the maximum stress, i.e., the relative amount of softening, decreases strongly with fabric, while the dissipated energy density is dominated by the volume fraction. The collected results will prove to be useful for modeling the softening and densification of the trabecular bone using the finite element method.     

The effect of charge density on the velocity and attenuation of ultrasound waves in human cancellous bone

Cancellous bone is a highly porous material, and two types of waves, fast and slow, are observed when ultrasound is used for detecting bone diseases. There are several possible stimuli for bone remodelling processes, including bone fluid flow, streaming potential, and piezoelectricity. Poroelasticity has been widely used for elucidating the bone fluid flow phenomenon, but the combination of poroelasticity with charge density has not been introduced. Theoretically, general poroelasticity with a varying charge density is employed for determining the relationship between wave velocity and attenuation with charge density. Fast wave velocity and attenuation are affected by porosity as well as charge density; however, for a slow wave, both slow wave velocity and attenuation are not as sensitive to the effect of charge density as they are for a fast wave. Thus, employing human femoral data, we conclude that charged ions gather on trabecular struts, and the fast wave, which moves along the trabecular struts, is significantly affected by charge density.     

Functional adaptation of cancellous bone in human proximal femur predicted by trabecular surface remodeling simulation toward uniform stress state

Two-dimensional simulation of trabecular surface remodeling was conducted for a human proximal femur to investigate the structural change of cancellous bone toward a uniform stress state. Considering that a local mechanical stimulus plays an important role in cellular activities in bone remodeling, local stress nonuniformity was assumed to drive trabecular structural change to seek a uniform stress state. A large-scale pixel-based finite element model was used to simulate structural changes of individual trabeculae over the entire bone. As a result, the initial structure of trabeculae changed from isotropic to anisotropic due to trabecular microstructural changes caused by surface remodeling according to the mechanical environment in the proximal femur. Under a single-loading condition, it was shown that the apparent structural property evaluated by fabric ellipses corresponded to the apparent stress state in cancellous bone. As is observed in the actual bone, a distributed trabecular structure was obtained under a multiple-loading condition. Through these studies, it was concluded that trabecular surface remodeling toward a local uniform stress state at the trabecular level could naturally bring about functional adaptation phenomenon at the apparent tissue level. The proposed simulation model would be capable of providing insight into the hierarchical mechanism of trabecular surface remodeling at the microstructural level up to the apparent tissue level.     

Relationships of loading history and structural and material characteristics of bone: development of the mule deer calcaneus

If a bone's morphologic organization exhibits the accumulated effects of its strain history, then the relative contributions of a given strain stimulus to a bone's development may be inferred from a bone's hierarchical organization. The artiodactyl calcaneus is a short cantilever, loaded habitually in bending, with prevalent compression in the cranial (Cr) cortex, tension in the caudal (Cd) cortex, and shear in the medial and lateral cortices (i.e., neutral axis). Artiodactyl calcanei demonstrate unusually heterogeneous structural and material organization between these cortices. This study examines potential relationships between developmental morphologic variations and the functional strain distribution of the deer calcaneus. One calcaneus was obtained from each of 36 (fetus to adult) wild deer. Predominant collagen fiber orientation (CFO), microstructural characteristics, mineral content (% ash), and geometric parameters were determined from transversely cut segments. Radiographs were examined for arched trabeculae, which may reflect tension/compression stress trajectories. Results showed that cross-sectional shape changes with age from quasi-circular to quasi-elliptical, with the long axis in the cranial-caudal direction of habitual bending. Cranial ("compression") cortical thickness increased at a greater rate than the Cd ("tension") cortex. Fetal bones exhibited arched trabeculae. Percent ash was not uniform (Cr > Cd), and this disparity increased with age (absolute differences: 2.5% fetuses, 4.3% adults). Subadult bones showed progressively more secondary osteons and osteocyte lacunae in the Cr cortex, but the Cd cortex tended to have more active remodeling in the subadult and adult bones. Nonuniform Cr:Cd CFO patterns first consistently appear in the subadults, and are correlated with secondary bone formation and habitual strain mode. Medial and lateral cortices in these groups exhibited elongated secondary osteons. These variations may represent "strain-mode-specific" (i.e., tension, compression, shear) adaptations. The heterogeneous organization may also be influenced by variations in longitudinal strain magnitude (highest in the Cr cortex) and principal strain direction-oblique in medial-lateral cortices (where shear strains also predominate). Other factors such as local reductions in longitudinal strain may influence the increased remodeling activity of the Cd cortex. Some structural variations, such as arched trabeculae, that are established early in ontogeny may be strongly influenced by genetic- or epigenetic-derived processes. Material variations, such as secondary osteon population densities and CFO, which appear later, may be products of extragenetic factors, including microdamage.     

Compression or tension? The stress distribution in the proximal femur

Background  

Questions regarding the distribution of stress in the proximal human femur have never been adequately resolved. Traditionally, by considering the femur in isolation, it has been believed that the effect of body weight on the projecting neck and head places the superior aspect of the neck in tension. A minority view has proposed that this region is in compression because of muscular forces pulling the femur into the pelvis. Little has been done to study stress distributions in the proximal femur. We hypothesise that under physiological loading the majority of the proximal femur is in compression and that the internal trabecular structure functions as an arch, transferring compressive stresses to the femoral shaft.     

Textural characteristics of the iliac-femoral trabecular pattern in a bipedally trained Japanese macaque

Previous research has revealed that Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) trained in bipedal performance (Saru-mawashi) display a number of functionally related external skeletal changes, as well as some site-specific endostructural cortical and cancellous adaptations. Through radiography assisted by digital image processing, we investigated the trabecular pattern of the ilium and femoral neck of Sansuke, a macaque habitually bipedally trained for 8 years. A set of eight regions of interest on Sansuke were recorded for subtle structural characterization of the cancellous network and compared to a sample of 5 ilia and 23 femurs from 26 adult wild Japanese macaques. The measured variables include trabecular thickness, trabecular bone volume, and degree of anisotropy. As a whole, the site-specific textural characteristics of the cancellous network detected on the ilium and proximal femur of the bipedally trained macaque can be interpreted as functional adaptive responses to more compressive loads dissipated along the axis from the sacro-iliac to the coxo-femoral joint, and back.     

The functionally-related signatures characterizing the endostructural organisation of the femoral shaft in modern humans and chimpanzee

Within the limits imposed by a number of developmental and rheological factors, endostructural arrangement of the appendicular skeleton is consistent with the functional patterns of stress, where cortical bone topographic thickness variation in long bones primarily reflects the nature, direction, intensity, and frequency of the locomotion-related biomechanical loads. By applying techniques of cross-sectional geometric analysis and 3D morphometric mapping to a (micro)tomographic record consisting of 12 modern human and 10 chimpanzee adult femora, we have shown two distinct patterns (functional “signatures”) of cortical bone arrangement along the shaft (20–80% portion of the biomechanical length) specifically associated to the bipedal (Homo) and the quadrupedal modes (Pan). In particular, the inner structure of the human femoral diaphysis is adapted to antero-posterior loadings and presents a greater rigidity against posterior bending, while that of Pan is characterized by the presence of strong medial and lateral bony reinforcements positioned above its femoral midshaft.     

In vivo strains in the femur of the nine‐banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)

The capacity of limb bones to resist the locomotor loads they encounter depends on both the pattern of those loads and the material properties of the skeletal elements. Among mammals, understanding of the interplay between these two factors has been based primarily on evidence from locomotor behaviors in upright placentals, which show limb bones that are loaded predominantly in anteroposterior bending with minimal amounts of torsion. However, loading patterns from the femora of opossums, marsupials using crouched limb posture, show appreciable torsion while the bone experiences mediolateral (ML) bending. These data indicated greater loading diversity in mammals than was previously recognized, and suggested the possibility that ancestral loading patterns found in sprawling lineages (e.g., reptilian sauropsids) might have been retained among basal mammals. To further test this hypothesis, we recorded in vivo locomotor strains from the femur of the nine‐banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), a member of the basal xenarthran clade of placental mammals that also uses crouched limb posture. Orientations of principal strains and magnitudes of shear strains indicate that armadillo femora are exposed to only limited torsion; however, bending is essentially ML, placing the medial aspect of the femur in compression and the lateral aspect in tension. This orientation of bending is similar to that found in opossums, but planar strain analyses indicate much more of the armadillo femur experiences tension during bending, potentially due to muscles pulling on the large, laterally positioned third trochanter. Limb bone safety factors were estimated between 3.3 and 4.3 in bending, similar to other placental mammals, but lower than opossums and most sprawling taxa. Thus, femoral loading patterns in armadillos show a mixture of similarities to both opossums (ML bending) and other placentals (limited torsion and low safety factors), along with unique features (high axial tension) that likely relate to their distinctive hindlimb anatomy. J. Morphol. 26:889–899, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Altered architecture and cell populations affect bone marrow mechanobiology in the osteoporotic human femur

Age-related increases in trabecular bone porosity, as seen in osteoporosis, not only affect the strength and stiffness, but also potentially the mechanobiological response of bone. The mechanical interaction between trabecular bone and bone marrow is one source of mechanobiological signaling, as many cell populations in marrow are mechanosensitive. However, measuring the mechanics of this interaction is difficult, due to the length scales and geometric complexity of trabecular bone. In this study, a multi-scale computational scheme incorporating high-resolution, tissue-level, fluid–structure interaction simulations with discrete cell-level models was applied to characterize the potential effects of trabecular porosity and marrow composition on marrow mechanobiology in human femoral bone. First, four tissue-level models with different volume fractions (BV/TV) were subjected to cyclic compression to determine the continuum level shear stress in the marrow. The calculated stress was applied to three detailed models incorporating individual cells and having differing adipocyte fractions. At the tissue level, compression of the bone along its principal mechanical axis induced shear stress in the marrow ranging from 2.0 to 5.6 Pa, which increased with bone volume fraction and strain rate. The shear stress was amplified at the cell level, with over 90% of non-adipocyte cells experiencing higher shear stress than the applied tissue-level stress. The maximum shear stress decreased by 20% when the adipocyte volume fraction (AVF) increased from 30%, as seen in young healthy marrow, to 45 or 60% AVF typically found in osteoporotic patients. The results suggest that increasing AVF has similar effects on the mechanobiological signaling in bone marrow as decreased volume fraction.     

The mechanical characteristics of cancellous bone at the upper femoral region

Mechanical behaviour of trabecular bone at the upper femoral region of human bones has been studied by compression tests on trabecular bone specimens removed from normal femora obtained at autopsy. Compression tests were performed along three different axes of loading on wet specimens and high loading rates. Femoral head specimens proved to be the strongest for any axis of loading.

Large variation in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity is seen within and between femoral bone samples. Anisotropy and differences in anisotropy for the different regions have been observed. A significant correlation between mechanical properties (σ max − E) and bone mineral content of the specimen was found.

Tests on whole bone structures demonstrate that removal of the central part of the trabecular bone at the proximal femur reduces the strength for impact loading considerably (± 50%).     

3D analysis from micro-MRI during in situ compression on cancellous bone

A mini-compression jig was built to perform in situ tests on bovine trabecular bone monitored by micro-MRI. The MRI antenna provided an isotropic resolution of 78 μm that allows for a volume correlation method to be used. Three-dimensional displacement fields are then evaluated within the bone sample during the compression test. The performances of the correlation method are evaluated and discussed to validate the technique on trabecular bone. By considering correlation residuals and estimates of acquisition noise, the measured results are shown to be trustworthy. By analyzing average strain levels for different interrogation volumes along the loading direction, it is shown that the sample size is less than that of a representative volume element. This study shows the feasibility of the 3D-displacement and strain field analyses from micro-MRI images. Other biological tissues could be considered in future work.     

The susceptibility of the femoral neck to fracture: an assessment incorporating the effects of age-remodeling and stress reduction

Age-related bone remodeling may cause fragility of the femoral neck, thereby increasing fracture risk in elderly populations. We investigated the effects of age-remodeling and stress-reduction on the femoral neck region using the Finite Strip Method (FSM). We verified the possibility that the femoral neck is likely to undergo fracture through two mechanisms: yielding and local buckling. We hypothesized that the femoral necks of young subjects are more prone to fracture by yielding, whereas those of elderly subjects are more susceptible to fracture initiated by local buckling. The slices from the CT-scans of 15 subjects corresponding to the lowest area moment of inertia were segregated into cortex and trabeculae. Geometric and material properties for each strip were obtained from the CT-scans. The FSM, proposed here as an approximation to the better-known Finite Element Method (FEM), was implemented on a model comprising both cortex and trabeculae. Finite strip (FS) analyses were performed on models that incorporated the effects of age-related bone remodeling, as well as a reduction in physiological stress on the bone (as a result of weight loss). Comparisons were made with similar FS analyses performed on only the cortical shell, in order to ascertain the contributions of the trabeculae to femoral neck strength. We observed that the femoral necks of simulated young subjects manifested a marked predisposition to undergo yielding, whereas the femoral neck models of simulated elderly subjects were more prone to buckling before yielding. The trabecular degradation and cortical thinning involved in aging render the femoral neck more susceptible to failure by buckling.     

The assessment of trabecular bone parameters and cortical bone strength: A comparison of micro-CT and dental cone-beam CT

This study compared the capabilities of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in assessing trabecular bone parameters and cortical bone strength. Micro-CT and CBCT scans were applied to 28 femurs from 14 rats to obtain independent measurements of the volumetric cancellous bone mineral density (vCanBMD) in the femoral head, volumetric cortical bone mineral density (vCtBMD) in the femoral diaphysis, cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI), and bone strength index (BSI) (=CSMI×vCtBMD). Five structural parameters of the trabecular bone of the femoral head were calculated from micro-CT images. A three-point bending test was then conducted to measure the fracture load of each femur. Bivariate linear Pearson analysis was conducted to calculate the correlation coefficients (r values) of the micro-CT, dental CBCT, and three-point bending measurements. The statistical analyses showed a strong correlation between vCanBMD values obtained using micro-CT and dental CBCT (r=0.830). There were strong or moderate correlation between vCanBMD measured using dental CBCT and five parameters of trabecular structure measured using micro-CT. Additionally, the results were satisfactory regardless of whether micro-CT or dental CBCT was used to measure the femoral diaphysis vCtBMD (r=0.733 and 0.680, respectively), CSMI (r=0.756 and 0.726, respectively), or BSI (r=0.846 and 0.847, respectively) to predict fracture loads. This study has yielded a new method for using dental CBCT to evaluate bone parameters and bone strength; however, further studies are necessary to validate the use of dental CBCT on humans.     

Morphological changes in the internal structure of the articular eminence of the temporal bone during growth from deciduous to early mixed dentition

Previously, bio-mechanical studies on the temporomandibular joint have concentrated mainly on the mandibular condyle while the articular eminence has been largely overlooked. Furthermore, research on the mechanical properties of bone using finite element analysis has focused on the cortical bone in preference to cancellous bone. In this study morphorogical changes in the internal structure of the articular eminence as related to child growth were examined using Micro-CT. Morphometric analysis of samples of cancellous bone representing both deciduous and early mixed dentitions showed an increase in the bone volume fraction and trabecular thickness in the early mixed dentition, and finite element analysis indicated directional transmission of stress as well. These results suggest that the morphology of the trabecular bone was altered to adapt to the functional growth progressed from the deciduous to the early mixed dentition.