The Effect of Gamma Radiation Sterilization on Yield Properties and Microscopic Tissue Damage in Dense Cancellous Bone

Cancellous bone allografts are increasingly attractive because the high porosity allows for rapid in-growth and the stiffness closely matches that of the host bone. Allografts are sterilized with gamma radiation which can affect the mechanical properties and damage processes of bone. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of gamma radiation sterilization on yield properties of dense cancellous bone and identify differences in microdamage accumulation. Compression tests of cylindrical bovine proximal tibia specimens sterilized at a dose of 29.32 kGy and control specimens were conducted to 1.3% strain. Histological sections were obtained to examine microscopic tissue damage. Sterilization had no effect on the yield properties of cancellous bone, but irradiated specimens had higher residual strain and significantly more microscopic tissue damage in the form of microfractures. This suggests that sterilization changes the damage processes of cancellous bone and could affect the performance of an allograft following overloading.

Year	Entry
1992	Anderson MJ, Keyak JH, Skinner HB. Compressive mechanical properties of human cancellous bone after gamma irradiation. J Bone Joint Surg. June 1992;74A(5):747-752.
2005	Akkus O, Belaney RM. Sterilization by gamma radiation impairs the tensile fatigue life of cortical bone by two orders of magnitude. J Orthop Res. September 2005;23(5):1054-1058.
2002	Currey JD. Bones: Structure and Mechanics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2002.
2005	Nagaraja S, Couse TL, Guldberg RE. Trabecular bone microdamage and microstructural stresses under uniaxial compression. J Biomech. 2005;38(4):707-716.
2005	Hernandez CJ, Tang SY, Baumbach BM, Hwu PB, Sakkee AN, van der Ham F, DeGroot J, Bank RA, Keaveny TM. Trabecular microfracture and the influence of pyridinium and non-enzymatic glycation-mediated collagen cross-links. Bone. December 2005;37(6):825-832.
1996	Wenzel TE, Schaffler MB, Fyhrie DP. In vivo trabecular microcracks in human vertebral bone. Bone. August 1996;19(2):89-95.
1997	Keaveny TM, Pinilla TP, Crawford RP, Kopperdahl DL, Lou A. Systematic and random errors in compression testing of trabecular bone [published correction appears in J Orthop Res. 1995;17(1):151]. J Orthop Res. 1997;15(1):101-110.
1994	Keaveny TM, Guo XE, Wachtel EF, McMahon TA, Hayes WC. Trabecular bone exhibits fully linear elastic behavior and yields at low strains. J Biomech. 1994;27(9):1127-1136.
2000	Vashishth D, Tanner KE, Bonfield W. Contribution, development and morphology of microcracking in cortical bone during crack propagation. J Biomech. September 2000;33(9):1169-1174.
1999	Keaveny TM, Wachtel EF, Kopperdahl DL. Mechanical behavior of human trabecular bone after overloading. J Orthop Res. May 1999;17(3):346-353.
2001	Morgan EF, Yeh OC, Chang WC, Keaveny TM. Nonlinear behavior of trabecular bone at small strains. J Biomech Eng. February 2001;123(1):1-9.
2001	Akkus O, Rimnac CM. Fracture resistance of gamma radiation sterilized cortical bone allografts. J Orthop Res. September 2001;19(5):927-934.
2005	Akkus O, Belaney RM, Das P. Free radical scavenging alleviates the biomechanical impairment of gamma radiation sterilized bone tissue. J Orthop Res. July 2005;23(4):838-845.
2004	Nazarian A, Müller R. Time-lapsed microstructural imaging of bone failure behavior. J Biomech. 2004;37(1):55-65.
2001	Keaveny TM. Strength of trabecular bone. In: Cowin SC, ed. Bone Mechanics Handbook. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2001:16-1–16-42.
2000	Vashishth D, Koontz J, Qiu SJ, Lundin-Cannon D, Yeni YN, Schaffler MB, Fyhrie DP. In vivo diffuse damage in human vertebral trabecular bone. Bone. February 2000;26(2):147-152.
2001	Wang X, Bank RA, Tekoppele JM, Agrawal CM. The role of collagen in determining bone mechanical properties. J Orthop Res. 2001;19(6):1021-1026.
2001	Guo XE. Mechanical properties of cortical and cancellous bone tissue. In: Cowin SC, ed. Bone Mechanics Handbook. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2001:10-1–10-23.
1993	Michel MC, Guo X-DE, Gibson LJ, McMahon TA, Hayes WC. Compressive fatigue behavior of bovine trabecular bone. J Biomech. April–May 1993;26(4-5):453-463.
2006	Bevill G, Eswaran SK, Gupta A, Papadopoulos P, Keaveny TM. Influence of bone volume fraction and architecture on computed large-deformation failure mechanisms in human trabecular bone. Bone. December 2006;39(6):1218-1225.
2005	Wang X, Guyette J, Liu X, Roeder RK, Niebur GL. Axial-shear interaction effects on microdamage in bovine tibial trabecular bone. Euro J Morphol. February–April 2005;42(1-2):61-70.
2002	O’Brien FJ, Taylor D, Lee TC. An improved labelling technique for monitoring microcrack growth in compact bone. J Biomech. April 2002;35(4):523-526.
1994	Keaveny TM, Wachtel EF, Ford CM, Hayes WC. Differences between the tensile and compressive strengths of bovine tibial trabecular bone depend on modulus. J Biomech. 1994;27(9):1137-1146.
1994	Keaveny TM, Wachtel EF, Guo XE, Hayes WC. Mechanical behavior of damaged trabecular bone. J Biomech. November 1994;27(11):1309-1318.
1990	Burr DB, Stafford T. Validity of the bulk-staining technique to separate artifactual from in vivo bone microdamage. Clin Orthop Relat Res. November 1990;260:305-308.
2005	Gibson LJ. Biomechanics of cellular solids. J Biomech. 2005;38(3):377-399.
1997	Vashishth D, Behiri JC, Bonfield W. Crack growth resistance in cortical bone: concept of microcrack toughening. J Biomech. August 1997;30(8):763-769.
2002	Arthur Moore TL, Gibson LJ. Microdamage accumulation in bovine trabecular bone in uniaxial compression. J Biomech Eng. February 2002;124(1):63-71.
2009	Bevill G, Eswaran SK, Farahmand F, Keaveny TM. The influence of boundary conditions and loading mode on high-resolution finite element-computed trabecular tissue properties. Bone. April 2009;44(4):573-578.
1999	Hamer AJ, Stockley I, Elson RA. Changes in allograft bone irradiated atdifferent temperatures. J Bone Joint Surg. March 1999;81B(2):342-344.
2008	Bigley RF, Singh M, Hernandez CJ, Kazakia GJ, Martin RB, Keaveny TM. Validity of serial milling-based imaging system for microdamage quantification. Bone. January 2008;42(1):212-215.
1997	Wachtel EF, Keaveny TM. Dependence of trabecular damage on mechanical strain. J Orthop Res. September 1997;15(5):781-787.
1996	Hamer AJ, Strachan JR, Black MM, Ibbotson CJ, Stockley I, Elson RA. Biomechanical properties of cortical allograft bone using a new method of bone strength measurement: a comparison of fresh, fresh-frozen and irradiated bone. J Bone Joint Surg. May 1996;78B(3):363-368.
1998	Fazzalari NL, Forwood MR, Smith K, Manthey BA, Herreen P. Assessment of cancellous bone quality in severe osteoarthrosis: bone mineral density, mechanics, and microdamage. Bone. 1998;22(4):381-388.
1998	Müller R, Gerber SC, Hayes WC. Micro-compression: a novel technique for the nondestructive assessment of local bone failure. Technol Health Care. December 1998;6(5-6):433-444.
1995	van Rietbergen B, Weinans H, Huiskes R, Odgaard A. A new method to determine trabecular bone elastic properties and loading using micromechanical finite-element models. J Biomech. January 1995;28(1):69-81.
2004	Morgan E, Bayraktar H, Yeh O, Majumdar S, Burghardt A, Keaveny T. Contribution of inter-site variations in architecture to trabecular bone apparent yield strains. J Biomech. 2004;37(9):1413-1420.
2001	Jee WSS. Integrated bone tissue physiology: anatomy and physiology. In: Cowin SC, ed. Bone Mechanics Handbook. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2001:1-1–1-68.
2001	Morgan EF, Keaveny TM. Dependence of yield strain of human trabecular bone on anatomic site. J Biomech. 2001;34(5):569-577.
1997	Burr DB, Forwood MR, Fyhrie DP, Martin RB, Schaffler MB, Turner CH. Bone microdamage and skeletal fragility in osteoporotic and stress fractures. J Bone Miner Res. January 1997;12(1):6-15.
1975	Burstein AH, Zika JM, Heiple KG, Klein L. Contribution of collagen and mineral to the elastic-plastic properties of bone. J Bone Joint Surg. October 1975;57A(7):956-961.
1997	Currey JD, Foreman J, Laketić I, Mitchell J, Pegg DE, Reilly GC. Effects of ionizing radiation on the mechanical properties of human bone. J Orthop Res. January 1997;15(1):111-117.

Year

Entry

1992

Anderson MJ, Keyak JH, Skinner HB. Compressive mechanical properties of human cancellous bone after gamma irradiation. J Bone Joint Surg. June 1992;74A(5):747-752.

2005

Akkus O, Belaney RM. Sterilization by gamma radiation impairs the tensile fatigue life of cortical bone by two orders of magnitude. J Orthop Res. September 2005;23(5):1054-1058.

2002

Currey JD. Bones: Structure and Mechanics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2002.

2005

Nagaraja S, Couse TL, Guldberg RE. Trabecular bone microdamage and microstructural stresses under uniaxial compression. J Biomech. 2005;38(4):707-716.

2005

Hernandez CJ, Tang SY, Baumbach BM, Hwu PB, Sakkee AN, van der Ham F, DeGroot J, Bank RA, Keaveny TM. Trabecular microfracture and the influence of pyridinium and non-enzymatic glycation-mediated collagen cross-links. Bone. December 2005;37(6):825-832.