Publications

Novel strategies to heal discogenic low back pain could highly benefit from comprehensive biophysical studies that consider both mechanical and biological factors involved in intervertebral disc degeneration. A decrease in nutrient availability at the bone-disc interface has been indicated as a relevant risk factor and as a possible initiator of cell death processes. Mechanical behaviour of both healthy and degenerated discs could highly interact with cell death in these compromised situations. In the present study, a mechano-transport finite element model was used to investigate the nature of mechanical effects on cell death processes via load-induced metabolic transport variations. Cycles of static sustained compression were chosen to simulate daily human activity. Healthy and degenerated cases were simulated as well as a reduced supply of solutes and an increase in solute exchange area at the bone-disc interface. Results showed that a reduction in metabolite concentrations at the bone-disc boundaries induced cell death, even when the increased exchange area was simulated. Slight local mechanical enhancements of glucose in the disc centre were capable of decelerating cell death but occurred only with healthy mechanical properties. However, mechanical deformations were responsible for a worsening in terms of cell death in the inner annulus, a disadvantaged zone far from the boundary supply with both an increased cell demand and a strain-dependent decrease of diffusivity. Such adverse mechanical effects were more accentuated when degenerative properties were simulated. Overall, this study paves the way for the use of biophysical models for a more integrated understanding of intervertebral disc pathophysiology.

JTD Keywords: Boundary conditions, Cell nutrition, Cell viability, Computational analysis, Intervertebraldisc, Softtissuebiomechanics

In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) computational simulation of bone regeneration was performed in a human tibia under realistic muscle loading. The simulation was achieved using a discrete lattice modeling approach combined with a mechanoregulation algorithm to describe the cellular processes involved in the healing process namely proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and differentiation of cells. The main phases of fracture healing were predicted by the simulation, including the bone resorption phase, and there was a qualitative agreement between the temporal changes in interfragmentary strain and bending stiffness by comparison to experimental data and clinical results. Bone healing was simulated beyond the reparative phase by modeling the transition of woven bone into lamellar bone. Because the simulation has been shown to work with realistic anatomical 3D geometry and muscle loading, it demonstrates the potential of simulation tools for patient-specific pre-operative treatment planning.

JTD Keywords: Tissue differentiation, Computational analysis, Mechanical conditions, Bone regeneration, Weight-bearing, Proliferation, Osteoblast, Stiffness, Ingrowth, Scaffold