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The objective of this study was to see whether a mathematical model of fracture healing was able to mimic bone formation around an unloaded screw-shaped titanium implant as it is well-believed that both processes exhibit many biological similarities. This model describes the spatio-temporal evolution of cellular activities, ranging from mesenchymal stem cell migration, proliferation, differentiation to bone formation, which are initiated and regulated by the growth factors present at the peri-implant site. For the simulations, a finite volume code was used and adequate initial and boundary conditions were applied. Two sets of analyses have been performed, in which either initial and boundary condition or model parameter values were changed with respect to the fracture healing model parameter values. For a number of combinations, the spatio-temporal evolution of bone density was well-predicted. However reducing cell proliferation rate and increasing osteoblast differentiation and osteogenic growth factor synthesis rates, the simulation results were in agreement with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there is a growing consensus on the impact of mechanical loading on bone biology. A bone chamber provides a mechanically isolated in vivo environment in which the influence of different parameters on the tissue response around loaded implants can be investigated. This also provides data to assess the feasibility of different mechanobiological models that mathematically describe the mechanoregulation of tissue differentiation. Before comparing numerical results to animal experimental results, it is necessary to investigate the influence of the different model parameters on the outcome of the simulations. A 2D finite element model of the tissue inside the bone chamber was created. The differentiation models developed by Prendergast, et al. ["Biophysical stimuli on cells during tissue differentiation at implant interfaces", Journal of Biomechanics , 30 (6), (1997), 539-548], Huiskes et al. ["A biomechanical regulatory model for periprosthetic fibrous-tissue differentiation", Journal of Material Science: Materials in Medicine , 8 (1997) 785-788] and by Claes and Heigele ["Magnitudes of local stress and strain along bony surfaces predict the course and type of fracture healing", Journal of Biomechanics , 32 (3), (1999) 255-266] were implemented and integrated in the finite element code. The fluid component in the first model has an important effect on the predicted differentiation patterns. It has a direct effect on the predicted degree of maturation of bone and a substantial indirect effect on the simulated deformations and hence the predicted phenotypes of the tissue in the chamber. Finally, the presence of fluid also causes time-dependent behavior. Both models lead to qualitative and quantitative differences in predicted differentiation patterns. Because of the different nature of the tissue phenotypes used to describe the differentiation processes, it is however hard to compare both models in terms of their validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the influence of mechanical parameters on the phenomena of tissue differentiation, appositional bone growth and de nova bone formation around a cylindrical turned acid-etched titanium immediately loaded implant. A description is given on the highly controlled immediate loading experiments. The degree of tissue differentiation in the bone chamber, expressed by the variable bone and osteoid volume fraction, was found to be influenced by the duration of immediate loading.

The article examines the effect of various degrees of implant micromotion on the tissue differentiation around immediately loaded titanium implants. The experiments involving the tibia of rabbits are described. The smaller total tissue volume for the unloaded condition is probably due to the fact that implant motion initially helped to spread blood and cells around in the bone chamber.