Fig. 5.

Mechanical input improves trabecular bone microarchitecture. Fluorescent photomicrographs of a transverse section of proximal femur of adult (8 y) sheep, comparing a control animal (left) to an animal subject to 20 min per day of 30 Hz (cycles per second) of a low-level (0.3 g) mechanical vibration for one year (Rubin et al., 2001a). The large increase in trabecular bone density results in enhanced bone quality (Rubin et al., 2002b), achieved with tissue strains three orders of magnitude below those which cause damage to the tissue. These data suggest that specific mechanical parameters may represent a non-pharmacologic basis for the treatment of osteoporosis (Ward et al., 2004).