The Role of soft tissues in the vibrational behavior of long bones: a combined computational and experimental study
摘要
The vibrational behavior of long bones, especially their natural/modal frequencies, has been widely studied for its significance in biomechanics and orthopedic applications. However, most studies focus exclusively on either the bone itself or the surrounding soft tissues. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the modal properties of a long bone along with its soft tissues (muscles and tendons) and bone marrow, using both experimental and computational approaches. A bovine tibia, with and without its surrounding muscles and tendons, was analyzed via modal testing and analysis. Experimental data were collected under free–free and clamped–free boundary conditions and compared with finite element (FE) simulations. The bone was modeled as an inhomogeneous isotropic material, the marrow as homogeneous isotropic, and the soft tissue as isotropic incompressible hyperelastic material. While the inclusion of bone marrow and inhomogeneity had minimal impact (less than 0.3%) on vibrational results for the model with attached soft tissues, their influence was more pronounced (2–4%) in the model without attached soft tissues. In contrast, the presence of soft tissues significantly influenced natural frequencies, reducing the first two transverse modes by approximately 12% and higher modes by up to 70%. Additionally, large deformations in the soft tissues induced a stiffening effect, increasing certain modal frequencies by as much as 70%. These results highlight the substantial impact of soft tissues on modal frequencies and damping ratios, particularly under large strain conditions, whereas the effects of bone marrow and inhomogeneity are relatively minor when soft tissues are present.