The effect of mineralization on the time-dependent flexural deformation of cortical bone

Viscoelastic creep is an important factor to take into account when modeling press-fit orthopedic implants and may contribute to progressive vertebral deformity. There is very little data that shows how the presence of mineral affects the creep behavior of cortical bone. For this study creep tests were performed on ovine cortical bone samples and a model was developed to show how mineralization affects the creep response. The data was fit to a modified Bailey-Norton power law with a term representing bone mineral content. These results show that the creep response is significantly affected by bone mineralization (p<;0.02, r=0.75, n=12).