Cancellous Bone Strength at the Proximal Human Tibia

Abstract

Machined specimens from ten cadaver proximal tibiae were tested in compression to study the variation of mechanical strength with the distance from the joint surface. There was a statistically significant reduction of stiffness and strength with increasing distance from the joint beneath the lateral condyle and the intercondylar area; at the medial condyle no such reduction could be demonstrated. Linear regression analysis showed that the tangent modulus may be used to predict yield strength ( r = 0.92) and ultimate strength ( r = 0.91) when destruction of the specimen is undesirable. One important limitation of the technique employed is that the length of test specimens determines the resolution that can be obtained.