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Cancellous bone

1997; Cambridge University Press; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/cbo9781139878326.013

Lorna J. Gibson, Michael F. Ashby,

Elasticity and Material Modeling

Superficially, bones look fairly solid. But looks are deceptive. Most bones are an elaborate construction, made up of an outer shell of dense compact bone, enclosing a core of porous cellular, cancellous, or trabecular bone (trabecula means ‘little beam’ in Latin). Examples are shown in Fig. II.I: cross-sections of a femur, a tibia, and a vertebra. In some instances (as at joints between vertebrae or at the ends of the long bones) this configuration minimizes the weight of bone while still providing a large bearing area, a design which reduces the bearing stresses at the joint. In others (as in the vault of the skull or the iliac crest) it forms a low weight sandwich shell like those analysed in Chapter 9. In either case the presence of the cancellous bone reduces the weight while still meeting its primary mechanical function.