Research Interests:

• Age-related effects on bone quality
• Enhancing functional adaptability of aged bone
• Biomechanical properties of bone tissue in rodent models of fracture repair, tissue regeneration, and gene deficiency
• Contribution of bone ultrastructure to fracture mechanismsAge-related effects on the mechanical behavior of bone

Research Techniques:

Available at the Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute’s Biomechanics Lab

• Mechanical testing of bone
  • Monotonic: tension, bending, torsion
  • Dynamic: in vivo loading of the ulna
• Metalluragic prepartion of samples
• Micro-computed tomography
• Raman Spectroscopy

Other Reseaerch Skills:

• Collagen crosslink analysis by HPLC
• Finite Element Method
• Matlab
• Histomorphometry
  

Recent Publications:

Nyman, J.S., Roy, A., Reyes, M.J, and X. Wang.  Mechanical behavior of human cortical bone in cycles of advancing tensile strain for two age groups.  Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A.  Accepted in January 2008.

Nyman, J.S., Ni, Q., Nicolella, D.P., and X. Wang.  Measurements of mobile and bound water by nuclear magnetic resonance correlate with mechanical properties of bone.  Bone.  42:193-9, 2008.

Garret, I.R., Gutierrez, G., Rossini, G., Nyman, J.S., McCluskey, B., Flores, A., and G.R. Mundy.  Locally delivered lovastatin nanoparticles enhance fracture healing in rats.  Journal of Orthopaedic Research.  25:1351-1357, 2007.

Nyman, J.S., Roy, A., Tyler, J.H., Acuna, R.L., Gayle, H.J., and X. Wang.  Age-related factors affecting the post-yield energy dissipation of human cortical bone.  Journal of Orthopaedic Research.  25:646-655, 2007.

Ni, Q., Nyman, J.S., Wang, X., De Los Santos, A., and D.P. Nicolella.  Assessment of water distribution changes in human cortical bone by nuclear magnetic resonance. Measurement Science and Technology. 18:714-23, 2007.

Wang, X and J.S. Nyman. A novel approach to assess post-yield energy dissipation of bone in tension. Journal of Biomechanics. 40:674-677, 2007.

Nyman, J.S., Roy, A., Acuna, R.L., Gayle, H.J., Reyes, M.J., Tyler, J.H. Dean, D.D., and X. Wang.  Age-related effect on the concentration of collagen crosslinks in human osteonal and interstitial bone tissue. Bone. 39:1210-1217, 2006.

Nyman, J.S., Roy, A., Shen, X., Acuna, R.L., Tyler, J.H. and X. Wang.  The influence of water removal on the strength and toughness of cortical bone. Journal of Biomechanics. 39:931-938, 2006.

Nyman, J.S., Rodrigo, J.J., Hazelwood, S.J., Yeh, O.C., and R.B. Martin.  Predictions on preserving bone mass in knee arthroplasty with bisphosphonates.  The Journal of Arthroplasty. 21:106-113, 2006.

Nyman, J.S., Reyes, M., and X. Wang. The effect of ultrastructural changes on the toughness of bone. Micron. 36:566-582, 2005.  REVIEW

Nyman, J.S., Yeh, O.C., Hazelwood, S.J., and R.B. Martin.  A theoretical analysis of long-term bisphosphonate effects on trabecular bone volume and microdamage. Bone. 35:296-305, 2004.

Nyman, J.S., Hazelwood, S.J., Rodrigo, J.J., Martin, R.B., and O.C. Yeh. Long stemmed total knee arthroplasty with interlocking screws:  A computational bone adaptation study. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 22:51-57, 2004.