New predictive model for monitoring bone remodeling

Abstract The aim of this article was to present a new thermodynamic‐based model for bone remodeling which is able to predict the functional adaptation of bone in response to changes in both mechanical and biochemical environments. The model was based on chemical kinetics and irreversible thermodynamic principles, in which bone is considered as a self‐organizing system that exchanges matter, energy and entropy with its surroundings. The governing equations of the mathematical model have been numerically solved using Matlab software and implemented in ANSYS software using the Finite Element Method. With the aid of this model, the whole inner structure of bone was elucidated. The current model suggested that bone remodeling was a dynamic process which was driven by mechanical loading, metabolic factors and other external contributions. The model clearly indicated that in the absence of mechanical stimulus, the bone was not completely resorbed and reaches a new steady state after about 50% of bone loss. This finding agreed with previous clinical studies. Furthermore, results of virtual computations of bone density in a composite femur showed the development of a dense cortical bone around the medullary canal and a dense trabeculæ bone between the femoral head and the calcar region of the medial cortex due to compressive stresses. The comparison of the predicted bone density with the structure of the proximal femur obtained from X‐rays and using strain energy density gave credibility to the current model. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010.