Towards understanding bone quality : Implications of reduced toughness for load-carrying ability in the presence of defects
Identifying patients at high risk of bone fracture is an important task. The clinical risk assessment, based on measurements of bone mass, correlates with strength but not toughness and is insufficient for reliable identification of high-risk patients. Starting from non-linear fracture mechanics, we hypothesise that reduced bone tissue fracture toughness and characteristic length, possibly in comb
