Accuracy and reproducibility of bending stiffness measurements by mechanical response tissue analysis in artificial human ulnas

A novel method for bone fatigue monitoring and prediction

“…Recent reports (Stone et al, 2003 Nov, Wainwright et al, 2005 May) of poor performance of DXA in predicting fractures has led to a decline in confidence in DXA and in insurance coverage for the expense of the procedure. A renewed interest in MRTA has resulted in improvements in the technology, now referred to as Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology (CBMT), which has demonstrated improved accuracy in measurement of bending stiffness when validated against quasistatic mechanical testing (QMT) (Loucks et al, 2017 Aug;, Arnold et al, 2014 Nov 7). This method uses the application of low frequency ( 40–1200 Hz) vibrations at midshaft (Arnold et al, 2014).…”

“…A renewed interest in MRTA has resulted in improvements in the technology, now referred to as Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology (CBMT), which has demonstrated improved accuracy in measurement of bending stiffness when validated against quasistatic mechanical testing (QMT) (Loucks et al, 2017 Aug;, Arnold et al, 2014 Nov 7). This method uses the application of low frequency ( 40–1200 Hz) vibrations at midshaft (Arnold et al, 2014). Additional research is required to demonstrate clinical usefulness of this technology.…”

“…Additional research is required to demonstrate clinical usefulness of this technology. Currently, there are no FDA-approved devices that measure bone strength or bone stiffness in vivo (Arnold et al, 2014).…”

Response to “Clinical Evaluation of Bone Strength and Fracture Risk”

“…Since then, our proprietary improvements to the legacy MRTA technology have enabled us to achieve unmatched accuracy in QMT-validated measurements of the bending stiffness (R 2 = 0.999) of 39 artificial human ulna bones [11], and most recently in QMT-validated measurements of the bending stiffness and estimates of the bending strength (both R 2 = 0.99) of ulna bones within 35 cadaveric human arms from donors ranging widely in age (17–99 yrs) and BMI (13–40 kg/m 2 ). To distinguish our improved technique from the legacy MRTA technology, we refer to it as Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology (CBMT).…”

Response to Loucks et al.’s Comment on “Clinical Evaluation of Bone Strength and Fracture Risk”

“…In addition, in vivo studies have indicated that MRTA is able to detect a reduced ulnar stiffness in aged and osteoporotic subjects [4,5], indicating its relevance to the clinical setting. We anticipate the application of the further enhanced Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology (CBMT) described by Arnold et al [6] to a clinical model in the near future.…”