858 minibiox 2

Following μCT, rats underwent biomechanical testing. The mandibles were harvested en-bloc, split between the incisors, and frozen at −20°C until testing. The posterior aspect of the mandible was placed into an open cylindrical shaped “pot” using a heated bismuth alloy (Cerrobend, Cerro Products, Bellefont, PA, USA) that, once cooled, secured the mandible in place. The potted mandibles were loaded to failure in uniaxial monotonic tension at 0.5 mm/s using a servohydraulic testing machine (858 Minibiox II; MTS Systems Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN, USA). Crosshead displacement was recorded by using an external variable differential transducer (LVDT; Lucas Schavitts, Hampton, VA, USA), and load data were collected with a 100-lb load cell (Sensotec, Columbus, OH, USA). Data were sampled at 200 Hz on a TestStar system (TestStar IIs System version 2.4; MTS Systems Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN, USA). Load-displacement curves were analyzed for whole bone ultimate load (UL), intrinsic stiffness (S), yield load (Y), failure load (FL), and elastic energy using custom computational code (MATLAB 7.11; Mathworks Inc., Natick, MA, USA).

After imaging, both the anterior and posterior ends of the mandibles were potted in bismuth and loaded to failure in uniaxial monotonic tension at 0.5 mm/s using a servohydraulic testing machine (858 Minibiox II; MTS Systems Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN, USA). Crosshead displacement was recorded by using an external variable differential transducer (LVDT; Lucas Schavitts, Hampton, VA, USA), and load data were collected with a 100-lb load cell (Sensotec, Columbus, OH, USA). Data were sampled at 200 Hz on a TestStar system (TestStar IIs System version 2.4; MTS Systems Corporation, Minneapolis, MN, USA). Load-displacement curves were analyzed for whole bone yield load (Y), failure energy (E), ultimate load (UL), failure load (FL) and elastic energy (EE) using custom computational code (MATLAB 7.11; Mathworks Inc., Natick, MA, USA).

Femurs were loaded to failure in four-point bending at 0.5 mm/s in the anterior-posterior direction using a servohydraulic testing machine (858 Minibiox II; MTS Systems Corporation) with the posterior side in tension between upper and lower supports that were 2.2 mm and 6.35 mm apart, respectively. All bones were tested at room temperature and kept moist with PBS. Crosshead displacement was recorded by using an external variable differential transducer (LVDT; Lucas Schavitts), and load data were collected with a 50-lb. load cell (Sensotec) at a sampling frequency of 2048 Hz. Load-displacement curves were analyzed for whole bone stiffness, yield load, ultimate load, elastic energy, plastic energy, total energy to failure, and displacement ratio (ratio of failure displacement to yield displacement) using custom computational code (MATLAB 7.11; Mathworks Inc.).