Healthcare - Probabilistic Techniques for Bone as a Natural Composite

© 2017 - Society for Design and Process Science. All rights reserved. The number of older adults in the USA is projected to continue growing, thus driving the demand for orthopedic surgery due to diseases like Osteoporosis and related bone fractures. To manage the healthcare costs, there has been increased interest in introducing predictive analytics for the assessment of bone quality and properties. Bone has been described as a nanocomposite with unique mechanical properties, governed by its structural organization and chemical composition. To develop predictive analytics in relation to bone health, there is a need to understand why cortical bone is so resistant to crack propagation and how it ultimately succumbs to fracture. Moreover, bone has a hierarchical structure through multiple length scales in which the variability of the properties at each length scale affects the overall mechanical properties. Since there is no comprehensive model to capture the mechanics of fracture, ther