Mechanoregulated trabecular bone adaptation: progress report on in silico approaches

Adaptation is the process by which bone responds to changes in loading environment and modulates its properties and spatial organization to meet the mechanical demands. Adaptation in trabecular bone is achieved through increase in bone mass and alignment of trabecular-bone morphology along the loading direction. This transformation of internal microstructure is governed by mechanical stimuli sensed by mechanosensory cells in the bone matrix. Realisation of adaptation in the form of local bone-resorption and -formation activities as a function of mechanical stimuli is still debated. In silico modelling is a useful tool for simulation of various scenarios that cannot be investigated in vivo and particularly well suited for prediction of trabecular bone adaptation. This progress report presents the recent advances in in silico modelling of mechanoregulated adaptation at the scale of trabecular bone tissue. Four well-established bone-adaptation models are reviewed in terms of their recent improvements and validation. They consider various mechanical factors: (i) strain energy density, (ii) strain and damage, (iii) stress nonuniformity and (iv) daily stress. Contradictions of these models are discussed and their ability to describe adequately a real-life mechanoregulation process in bone is compared.