H. Windhagen et al., Quantitative assessment of in vivo bone regeneration consolidation in distraction osteogenesis, J ORTHOP R, 18(6), 2000, pp. 912-919
We present a new method for quantitatively assessing the consolidation of b
one regeneration by performing distraction osteogenesis in micropigs. We me
asured in vivo stiffness using a newly developed, revolving, bone-healing m
eter. After the micropigs were killed, we obtained maximum torsional moment
data for the regenerated bones by destructive mechanical testing, and we t
hen correlated these data with the data for stiffness. We found a highly si
gnificant regression between in vivo stiffness and maximum torsional moment
(r(2) = 0.80), suggesting that monitoring stiffness may be useful for the
prediction of bone regeneration in distraction osteogenesis. Therefore, our
method may be a reliable tool for future quantitative monitoring of healin
g progress in patients with healing bones or in animal studies addressing t
reatments to increase bone formation in long-bone defects.