Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Cyclic Loading Of Bone On Osteocyte Processes Spanning Micro-Cracks As A Driver Of Targeted Remodelling Of Bone, Morgana Pires Afonso Shirsath

Doctoral

Bone remodelling is essential to maintain and improve the quality of bones. This occurs with the action of specialised cells - osteoclasts and osteoblasts - which replace the old bone tissue with new in regions where damage has occurred. Osteocytes are responsible for signalling the presence of damage and trigger the bone remodelling response. According to the Scissors Model, the presence of micro-cracks causes rupture of the osteocyte processes by fatigue because of the repeated stretching resulting from the relative movement of micro-crack faces, when bone is subjected to cyclic loads.