Hardness, an indicator of the mechanical competence of cancellous bone

Abstract

Hardness and calcium content in compact bone are strongly related. Variation in Young's modulus is produced mainly by variations in mineralisation. Therefore, there should be a relationship between hardness and Young's modulus. We demonstrate this. The calcium content of cancellous bone and adjacent compact bone in several species shows little difference, the cancellous bone having ∼10% less calcium. The hardness of cancellous bone in Bos is ∼12% less than that of adjacent compact bone, and the calcium is ∼2% less. These lines of evidence make it unlikely that the Young modulus of cancellous bone material is much different from that of compact bone. Similar evidence suggests that the yield stress of cancellous bone is similar to that of adjacent compact bone.