Assessment of axial bone rigidity in rats with metabolic diseases using CT-based structural rigidity analysis

Assessment of Bone Healing: Opportunities to Improve the Standard of Care

➤ Bone healing is commonly evaluated by clinical examination and serial radiographic evaluation. Physicians should be mindful that personal and cultural differences in pain perception may affect the clinical examination. Radiographic assessment, even with the Radiographic Union Score, is qualitative, with limited interobserver agreement.➤ Physicians may use serial clinical and radiographical examinations to assess bone healing in most patients, but in ambiguous and complicated cases, they may require other methods to provide assistance in decision-making.➤ In complicated instances, clinically available biomarkers, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging may determine initial callus development. Quantitative computed tomography and finite element analysis can estimate bone strength in later callus consolidation phases.➤ As a future direction, quantitative rigidity assessments for bone healing may help patients to return to function earlier by increasing a clinician's confidence in successful progressive healing.

The effects of metastatic lesion on the structural determinants of bone: Current clinical and experimental approaches

Metastatic bone disease is incurable with an associated increase in skeletal-related events, particularly a 17-50% risk of pathologic fractures. Current surgical and oncological treatments are palliative, do not reduce overall mortality, and therefore optimal management of adults at risk of pathologic fractures presents an unmet medical need. Plain radiography lacks specificity and may result in unnecessary prophylactic fixation. Radionuclide imaging techniques primarily supply information on the metabolic activity of the tumor or the bone itself. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography provide excellent anatomical and structural information but do not quantitatively assess bone matrix. Research has now shifted to developing unbiased data-driven tools that can predict risk of impending fractures and guide individualized treatment decisions. This review discusses the state-of-the-art in clinical and experimental approaches for prediction of pathologic fractures with bone metastases. Alterations in bone matrix quality are associated with an age-related increase in skeletal fragility but the impact of metastases on the intrinsic material properties of bone is unclear. Engineering-based analyses are non-invasive with the capability to evaluate oncological treatments and predict failure due to the progression of metastasis. The combination of these approaches may improve our understanding of the underlying deterioration in mechanical performance.

Computed tomography-based rigidity analysis: a review of the approach in preclinical and clinical studies

The assessment of fracture risk in patients afflicted with osseous neoplasms has long presented a problem for orthopedic oncologists. These patients are at risk for developing pathologic fractures through lytic defects in the appendicular and axial skeleton with devastating consequences on their quality of life. Lesions with a high risk of fracture may require prophylactic surgical stabilization, whereas low-risk lesions can be treated conservatively. Therefore, effective prevention of pathologic fractures depends on accurate assessment of fracture risk and is a critical step to avoid debilitating complications. Given the complex nature of osseous neoplasms, treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach; yet, little consensus regarding fracture risk assessment exists among physicians involved in the care of these patients. In order to improve the overall standard of care, specific criteria must be adopted to formulate consistent and accurate fracture risk predictions. However, clinicians make subjective assessments about fracture risk on plain radiographs using guidelines now recognized to be inaccurate. Osseous neoplasms alter both the material and geometric properties of bone; failure to account for changes in both of these parameters limits the accuracy of current fracture risk assessments. Rigidity, the capacity to resist deformation upon loading, is a structural property that integrates both the material and geometric properties of bone. Therefore, rigidity can be used as a mechanical assay of the changes induced by lytic lesions to the structural competency of bone. Using this principle, computed tomography (CT)-based structural rigidity analysis (CTRA) was developed and validated in a series of preclinical and clinical studies.