Fig. 3.

Physical properties of segmental defects treated with 5.5 μg of rhBMP-2 and external fixators of different stiffnesses. Rats were euthanized at 8 weeks, and the defects with analyzed with μCT (Figs. 3-A through 3-E) and mechanical testing (Figs. 3-F and 3-G). The error bars indicate the standard error of the mean. #Significantly different from the high-stiffness group. *Significantly different from the intact, contralateral femur. $Significantly different from the low-stiffness group. Intact = contralateral femur, VeryLow = very-low-stiffness fixator (25.4 N/mm), Low = low-stiffness fixator (114 N/mm), Medium = medium-stiffness fixator (185 N/mm), High = high-stiffness fixator (254 N/mm), HA = hydroxyapatite, and pMOI = polar moment of inertia.