Diagnosing brittle bones before they break

With an Australian admitted to hospital every eight minutes suffering from the brittle bone condition osteoporosis, a Queensland University Technology researcher is using a Smart State PhD Scholarship to further our understanding of how bone fractures.

Queensland University of Technology medical engineer and PhD researcher Victoria Toal said osteoporosis typically went undiagnosed until a fracture occurred which dramatically increased the risk of further damage.

Ms Toal, from the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, has received $21,000 to finance the research under the latest round of State Government Smart State PhD Scholarships.

"There’s currently limited knowledge about how bone damage occurs in conditions such as osteoporosis," Ms Toal said.

"I’ll be using high resolution medical imaging, computer models and experimental tests to study how high loading events cause damage to osteoporotic trabecular bone which is the porous network in the middle of most bones.

"The laboratory testing will involve placing bone samples through carefully controlled stress, compression and tension tests and studying how they behave.

"The experimental results will be used to develop a computer model that will provide a tool to aid diagnosis and treatment of bone disorders.

"This will help predict how human bones will cope during different loading conditions like when walking or during a fall.

"This research is particularly relevant in helping our ageing population to continue to live healthy and active lives."

One in every two women and one in three men over the age of 60 will experience an osteoporotic fracture and thereafter have an increased risk of further similar bone damage.

The Smart State PhD Scholarships program is part of the Government’s $200 million Smart State Innovation Funds, which are designed to help build world-class research facilities, attract top quality scientists and stimulate cutting-edge research projects in Queensland.

(Source: Queensland University of Technology: April 2008)