BEHAVIORAL MODEL OF A BASIC TRABECULAR-BONE MULTI-CELLULAR UNIT USING CELLULAR AUTOMATON

• Main Author: Aldemar Fonseca Velásquez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas 2014-12-01
• Series: Visión Electrónica
• Subjects: bone remodeling; cellular automaton; osteoclasts; osteoblasts; resorption
• Online Access: http://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/ojs/index.php/visele/article/view/7855/9586

Bone remodeling is the biological process through which old bone tissue is transformed into new bone through the action of a basic unit of bone remodeling (BMU). This paper presents a computational model to determine the variation of cell population caused by the presence of micro-fractures within the BMU during the remodeling process, also determines the spatial evolution at particular points of the trabecular bone surface. The remodeling process presented is governed by a twodimensional cellular automaton that evolves according to a set of rules and states, based on biological processes that occur in bone remodeling. The simulation of the remodeling process, programmed in MATLAB® performed in time intervals of 0.3 seconds, in the model showed a ratio of 20 osteoclasts to 190 osteoblasts. On the other hand, an approximate resorption time of 34 days and 150 days for formation was obtained. Bone mass showed a maximum percentage loss of 19%.