THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LEAKAGE THROUGH THE CEMENT LINE OF A SINGLE OSTEON

This work focuses on the Lacunar-Canalicular Porosity (PLC) of cortical bone which includes the osteons. Osteons are semicylindrical porous structures saturated with fluid within the bone and are approximately 250 mu m in diameter. The outer boundary of the osteon is called the cement line. Some studies suggested that the cement line is less highly mineralized and produced evidence that it has less calcium and phosphorus and more sulfur than the neighboring bone lamellae. Most authors assume that the cement line is impermeable, while others assume that some canaliculi are crossing the cement line which will make it permeable to certain degree. The objective of this work is to develop a theoretical analysis to study the leakage through the cement line and its relationship with the pore pressure distribution. The theoretical analysis is developed using our previous analysis for osteon under harmonic loading with addition of leakage parameter. The leakage parameter varies from 0 to 1, where a value of 0 indicates free flow through the cement line and a value of 1 indicates no flow through the cement line. Experimental results could be compared to this developed theoretical solution to get in depth understanding of the effect of leakage on osteon poroelastic properties. Additionally, the developed theoretical solution will give insight into sensitivity of osteon pore pressure to leakage through the cement line.