Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 50: Poster Session "Biological Physics"

AKB 50.53: Poster

Friday, March 12, 2004, 10:30–13:00, B

Interlamellar variation of the 3D bone nanostructure — •Wolfgang Wagermaier¹, Himadri S. Gupta¹, Paul Roschger², Manfred Burghammer³, Klaus Klaushofer², and Peter Fratzl¹ — ¹MPI-KGF, Biomaterials, Potsdam, Germany — ²LBIO, 4th Med. Dept., Hanusch Hospital and UKH Meidling, Vienna, Austria — ³ESRF, Grenoble, France

Bone is a biomineralised tissue structurally optimised for its biological function. Diverse fibrillar array types - at the 0.1 - 10 micrometer range, adapted to their local load bearing requirements - bring about this optimisation. We used a novel combination of synchrotron scanning small angle X-ray scattering combined with sample rotation to see how the 3D mineralised nanostructure varied in bone with inter-lamellar resolution. Several osteons around blood vessels in compact bone were scanned over a total area of typically (100 x 100 micrometer) and a simple physical model was developed to reconstruct the 3D orientation. Our results show mineral crystallite orientation has a fiber texture within single lamellae, but shows a smooth spatial variation around the cylindrical core of the osteon. Biomechanically the variation may be explained in terms of the in-vivo stresses developed around osteonal channels, requiring a composite structure able to resist large deformation and bending stresses. Our results provide insights into how bone is designed at the lamellar level for its biophysical function.