Improving the Mechanical Properties of Irradiation-sterilized Bone

Bone allografts are used in orthopaedic reconstruction of defects resulting from trauma, bone cancer or infection. Gamma-irradiation sterilization is a safety measure; however it damages the tissue, specifically the organic component, and embrittles bone. This research investigated the effect of ribose pre-treatment on the mechanical properties of ribose-modified irradiated bone. The overall goal was to develop a method for improving toughness of irradiation-sterilized bone by modifying collagen with a ribose treatment prior to/during irradiation. Bulk mechanical properties and fracture properties were evaluated. Collagen characterization techniques were used to further understand the collagen alterations and suggest toughening mechanisms. We have shown it is possible to recover some of the mechanical properties of γ-irradiated bone as well as collagen thermal stability and connectivity using our ribose pre-treatment. We propose that the recovery of collagen connectivity leads to functionally significant recovery of toughness, fracture toughness and strength.MAS