Fig. 1.

Experimental configuration for in situ nanomechanics with synchrotron SAXD: (A) Schematic of mouse femur, with tensile test specimen sectioned along the long axis of femur. (B) Tensile tester with bone sample mounted along the X-ray beam path in transmission geometry. (C) Magnified view of sample and tensile grips in fluid chamber, with tensile strain along the vertical direction. (D) Si pixel detector used for acquiring SAXD pattern from incident X-ray beam interacting with bone sample. (E) Typical stress - tissue strain and (F) fibril strain – tissue strain plots for femoral mid-shaft of Crh^+/+ and Crh^−120/+ mice aged 36 weeks. Straight lines indicate linear regression (R² = 0.55 for Crh^+/+ (dashed) and R² = 0.84 for Crh^−120/+ (dash-double dot)).