The Mechanical Assessment of Skeletal Tissues using Reference Point Indentation

Reference point indentation (RPI) has gained interest among translational scientists and clinicians in musculoskeletal research. BioDent (cyclic RPI) and OsteoProbe RUO (impact RPI) devices have been used in recent clinical studies of fracture risk and disease, as well as in cadaver studies to explore their underlying sensitivity to composition and whole-bone mechanical behavior. This thesis describes two experiments utilizing RPI technology. In the first experiment, the relationship between tibial RPI parameters and vertebral body mechanical behavior is explored. Indentation distance increase (IDI) from cyclic RPI is negatively correlated with L4 failure load (r = -0.596, p = 0.031), modulus (r = -0.553, p = 0.057), and energy to failure (r = -0.578, p = 0.042). No significant relationship is found between impact RPI and L4 mechanical behavior. In the second experiment, the time- and depth-dependent mechanical behavior of a murine osteoarthritis model is determined using cyclic RPI