一种骨小管中液体流动产生的流量及切应力模型

骨组织受力变形后其内部液体就会流动,同时在其微观结构——骨单元壁中扩散,并进一步产生一系列与骨液流动相关的物理效应,如流体剪切应力、流动电位等,这些物理效应被细胞感知并做出破骨或成骨等反应,来使骨适应外部载荷环境.鉴于骨组织产生的内部液体流动很难实验测定,理论模拟是目前的主要研究手段.基于骨单元的多孔弹性性质建立了骨小管内部液体的流动模型,该模型将骨单元所受的外部载荷与骨小管内部液体的压力、流速、流量和切应力联系起来,并进一步可以研究其力传导与力电传导机制.骨小管模型的建立分别基于中空和考虑哈弗液体的骨单元模型,并考虑了骨单元外壁的弹性约束和刚性位移约束两种边界条件.最终得到骨单元在外部轴向载荷作用下,骨小管内部液体的流量及流体切应力的解析解.结果表明:骨小管中的液体流量与流体切应力都正比于应变载荷幅值和频率,并由载荷的应变率决定.因此应变率可以作为控制流量和流体切应力的一种生理载荷因素.流量随着骨小管半径的增大而非线性增大,而流体切应力则随着骨小管半径的增大而线性增大.此外,在相同的载荷下,含哈弗液体的骨单元的模型中,骨小管中液体的流量和切应力均大于中空骨单元模型.     

A fluid flow model in the lacunar-canalicular system under the pressure gradient and electrical field driven loads

The lacunar-canalicular system (LCS) is acknowledged to directly participate in bone tissue remodeling. The fluid flow in the LCS is synergic driven by the pressure gradient and electric field loads due to the electro-mechanical properties of bone. In this paper, an idealized annulus Maxwell fluid flow model in bone canaliculus is established, and the analytical solutions of the fluid velocity, the fluid shear stress, and the fluid flow rate are obtained. The results of the fluid flow under pressure gradient driven (PGD), electric field driven (EFD), and pressure-electricity synergic driven (P-ESD) patterns are compared and discussed. The effects of the diameter of canaliculi and osteocyte processes are evaluated. The results show that the P-ESD pattern can combine the regulatory advantages of single PGD and EFD patterns, and the osteocyte process surface can feel a relatively uniform shear stress distribution. As the bone canalicular inner radius increases, the produced shear stress under the PGD or P-ESD pattern increases slightly but changes little under the EFD pattern. The increase in the viscosity makes the flow slow down but does not affect the fluid shear stress (FSS) on the canalicular inner wall and osteocyte process surface. The increase in the high-valent ions does not affect the flow velocity and the flow rate, but the FSS on the canalicular inner wall and osteocyte process surface increases linearly. In this study, the results show that the shear stress sensed by the osteocyte process under the P-ESD pattern can be regulated by changing the pressure gradient and the intensity of electric field, as well as the parameters of the annulus fluid and the canaliculus size, which is helpful for the osteocyte mechanical responses. The established model provides a basis for the study of the mechanisms of electro-mechanical signals stimulating bone tissue (cells) growth.