Dynamic Bone Quality: A Noninvasive Measure of Bone's Biomechanical Property in Osteoporosis

Bhattacharya, Amit; Watts, Nelson B.; Davis, Kermit; Kotowski, Susan; Shukla, Rakesh; Dwivedi, Alok Kumar; Coleman, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jocd.2010.01.001

« Previous Next »Journal of Clinical Densitometry
Volume 13, Issue 2 , Pages 228-236, April 2010

Dynamic Bone Quality: A Noninvasive Measure of Bone's Biomechanical Property in Osteoporosis

Amit Bhattacharya
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Nelson B. Watts
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Bone Health and Osteoporosis Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Address correspondence to: Nelson B. Watts, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Bone Health and Osteoporosis Center, 222 Piedmont Avenue, Suite 6300, Cincinnati, OH 45219.
Kermit Davis
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Susan Kotowski
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Rakesh Shukla
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Alok Kumar Dwivedi
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Robert Coleman
- SignaLysis Co., Cincinnati, OH, USA

Received 28 August 2009; received in revised form 31 December 2009; accepted 1 January 2010. published online 29 March 2010.

Abstract

We describe a novel approach to characterize bone quality noninvasively, a measurement that quantifies aggregate shock-absorption capacity of load-bearing bones as a measure of mechanical structural integrity during exposure to real-time self-induced in vivo loading associated with heel strike. The outcome measure, damping factor, was estimated at 5 load-bearing anatomical sites: ankle, tibial tuberosity, femoral condyle, lower back (at 3rd lumbar vertebra), and upper back (7th thoracic vertebra) plus the forehead in 67 patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis with and without documented vertebral fractures. The damping value was significantly lower in patients with vertebral fractures compared with those without a fracture (range: −36% to −72%; median: −44%). In these women with osteoporosis, damping factor was able to discriminate between patients with and without vertebral fractures, whereas traditional measures of bone density and biomechanical measures obtained from bone geometry were not significantly different between the groups.

Key Words: Damping, dynamic bone quality, fracture, osteoporosis, shock absorption