Biomechanical testing provides the stiffness, strength, and toughness of bone, and these outcome measures indicate whether a drug therapy is effective in enhancing two primary functions of whole bones - protecting vital organs and transmitting muscle forces into ambulatory motion.

With our new Instron Dynamight 8840 in the Biomechanics Lab, we are capable of bending and twisting rodent whole bone. These tests can be done in a monotonic or dynamic fashion. With our existing MTS Bionix 858, we can test bones from larger species such as humans and sheep.

Projects:

• Enhancing fracture repair with lovastatin
• Enhancing spine fusion with lovastatin
• Central nervous system control of cortical bone properties
• Osteoconductive biomaterials for bone regeneration

Personnel:

• Jeffry S. Nyman, Ph.D.:  Research Instructor of Orthopaedics
• Taya Furmanski: Biomechanics Lab Manager
• Florent Elefteriou, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor
• Scott Guelcher, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
• Gloria Gutierrez, Ph.D.: Associate Professor

The VUMC Center for Bone Biology is a member of the VUMC Department of Medicine in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology.