Multi-scale and mechanics of 3D printed cochlear implants for local drug delivery.

The currently available treatments for inner ear disorders often involve systemic drug administration, leading to suboptimal drug concentrations and side effects. Cochlear implants offer a potential solution by providing localized and sustained drug delivery to the cochlea. While the mechanical characterization of both the implants and their constituent material is crucial to ensure functional performance and structural integrity during implantation, this aspect has been mostly overlooked.

Tensile Mechanical Properties of Dry Cortical Bone Extracellular Matrix: A Comparison Among Two Osteogenesis Imperfecta and One Healthy Control Iliac Crest Biopsies.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic, collagen-related bone disease that increases the incidence of bone fractures. Still, the origin of this brittle mechanical behavior remains unclear. The extracellular matrix (ECM) of OI bone exhibits a higher degree of bone mineralization (DBM), whereas compressive mechanical properties at the ECM level do not appear to be inferior to healthy bone.

Does tissue fixation change the mechanical properties of dry ovine bone extracellular matrix?

Tissue fixation is a prevalent method for bone conservation. Bone biopsies are typically fixed in formalin, dehydrated in ethanol, and infiltrated with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) Since some experiments can only be performed on fixed bone samples, it is essential to understand how fixation affects the measured material properties. The aim of this study was to quantify the influence of tissue fixation on the mechanical properties of cortical ovine bone at the extracellular matrix (ECM) level with state-of-the-art micromechanical techniques.

Composition and micromechanical properties of the femoral neck compact bone in relation to patient age, sex and hip fracture occurrence.

Current clinical methods of bone health assessment depend to a great extent on bone mineral density (BMD) measurements. However, these methods only act as a proxy for bone strength and are often only carried out after the fracture occurs. Besides BMD, composition and tissue-level mechanical properties are expected to affect the whole bone's strength and toughness.