An In Silico Model to Examine the Interaction Between Implant Degradation and Fracture Healing Under Mechanical Loading
Abstract
Biodegradable implants are promising for fracture fixation but they have not been applied to the load-bearing skeletal sites. A critical issue is how implant degradation and fracture healing affect each other under mechanical loading. To address this issue, we first developed a finite element model of a long bone fracture fixed with a Zn alloy-based screw-plate system, where implant degradation and bone healing were simulated based upon the continuum damage mechanics and mechano-regulated tissue differentiation algorithm, respectively. For comparison, non-degradable Ti alloy implant with normal bone healing and non-healing fracture with normal implant degradation were served as two reference controls. In terms of the effect of implant degradation on bone healing, the results indicated that implant degradation resulted in a greater volume of newly formed bone within the callus (16% for the degradable implant vs 12% for the non-degradable implant) and a better biomechanical recovery of the fractured bone (bone stiffness fraction: 107% vs 95%) at week 8. Regarding the effect of bone healing on implant degradation, fracture healing led to a significant decrease in the degradation rate of the implant (implant stiffness fraction at week 4: 8% for non-healing vs 40% for healing) and an increase in the overall period from 4 to 8 weeks for a complete degradation of the implant. These results together suggest that implant degradation and fracture healing significantly affect each other under mechanical loading. The in silico model developed here may provide a valuable platform to consider interactions between material degradation and bone healing when designing biodegradable implants for orthopaedic internal fixation at the load-bearing sites.
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An optimal biodegradable implant should degrade substantially only after fulfilling its mechanical role during fracture healing, necessitating a degradation rate that aligns with the bone healing process.
“Actually, an optimal biodegradable implant should degrade substantially only after fulfilling its mechanical role during the fracture healing period, necessitating a degradation rate that aligns with the bone healing process42–44.”
From Intelligence-responsive wettability switch coating on magnesium implants for treating osteoporotic fracture (2026) · cites this paper as [42]
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- Authors
- Fu, R., Zhao, X., Liu, Y., Qiao, A., & Yang, H.
- Affiliations
- Beijing University of Technology (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Yang, Haisheng
- Venue
- Annals of Biomedical Engineering
- Published
- 2025-05-15
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1919-1930
- ISSN
- 0090-6964 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-9686
- OpenAlex
- W4410401417
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4
- FWCI
- 2.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Annals of Biomedical Engineering (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (12272017)
- Beijing Natural Science Foundation (L232058)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Bone fractures and treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Orthopaedic implants and arthroplasty
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Bone Tissue Engineering Materials
- Keywords
- biodegradable implants, implant degradation, fracture healing, mechanical loading, finite element model, continuum damage mechanics, callus formation, bone stiffness
- MeSH terms
- Computer Simulation, Humans, Models, Biological, Stress, Mechanical, Weight-Bearing, Fracture Healing, Absorbable Implants, Finite Element Analysis
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