Fluid Flow Stimulation of Bone Remodeling Through Intramedullary Pressure Oscillations, analyzed by Decalcified Bone Embedding.
Kevin Jwo, Mt. Sinai HS, Mt. Sinai, NY; Tamara Kaplan, Yi-Xian Qin, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University.

The purpose of this experiment is to study the effects of fluid flow loading on bone remodeling in the turkey ulna model. Bone resorptioSn and growth is thought to occur while being stimulated by intramedullary pressure oscillations. A fluid loading device was implanted into a hole drilled through the cortex at the dorsal side of the left ulna of an adult male turkey. Low level, high frequency oscillations of intramedullary pressure (ImP) were sent through a saline-filled tube, which connected to the device; this produced the fluid flow stimulation. The right ulna served as the contra-lateral control, and was implanted with a nonfunctioning device. Trabecular bone from both proximal and distal ends were removed through necropsy and processed through the following steps: decalcifying, dehydrating, clearing, impregnating, and then embedding in paraffin wax. Sections of approximately 40 microns were cut with a microtome and then stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin. After examining the results, no conclusions can be made as to how fluid loading influenced bone remodeling. This is due in part to the fact that n = 1. Future studies will include a greater n and will examine in more detail the effects of fluid loading. This work was funded by the Whitaker Foundation.


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