FRACTURE AND FATIGUE OF SKELETAL TISSUES
(F ² Lab)

Our goals are directed toward investigating the mechanisms of deformation, fracture, and the biological responses in biological materials at multiple length-scales (from molecular to macroscales). Our work aims at bridging the gap between mechanics of materials, biology, and experimental high-energy x-ray physics to understand skeletal biology and disease as well as design principles behind biomaterials.

Affiliated with the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah, the Fracture and Fatigue of Skeletal Tissues Laboratory is directed by Dr. Claire Acevedo.

The Fracture and Fatigue of Skeletal Tissues Lab’s research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the Advanced Light Source, the University of Utah Center on Aging, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health.

Spotlight

Michael Sieverts and Dr. Michael Bridge submitted a confocal image of canaliculi within bone for Nikon’s Small World competition. Their photo was nominated as an Image of Distinction and can be viewed here. Congrats!

Yoshihiro Obata presented results from synchrotron micro-CT toughness testing and advancements in synchrotron techniques for in situ bone testing at SES 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota!

CONGRATULATIONS TO IHSAN for defending and graduating with his thesis Masters degree! Ihsan worked hard on locating, extracting, and testing osteon structures in bone. He also investigated the effects of cross-links on the mechanical properties of bone. Congrats!

NEW PUBLISHED PAPER in JOM with first author William Woolley was accepted for publication. His work examines the effect of type II diabetes in a rat model, specifically relating deficits in mechanical properties to microstructure.

CONGRATS IHSAN for receiving an Honorable Mention for his NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) application. This award is rewarded to extremely meritorious applicants of the fellowship program.

DR. ACEVEDO was invited to give a talk at the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting! At ORS, she spoke at a Research Interest Group about bone quality research with other key investigators in the field.

A NATURE ENGINEERING blog post was written by Yoshi and Mike about the behind-the-scenes effort it takes to perform multi-disciplinary research in the realm of bone. Click the link to read about how they combine computer science, biomedical, and mechanical engineering to uncover bone fracture mechanisms. (READ MORE)

CONGRATS JAMES AND WILLIAM for their accepted abstracts at the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting! They presented their work on the effects of diabetes in bone using novel mechanical testing and synchrotron techniques.

PUBLISHED PAPER in IEEE – eScience! Mike and Nikita use phase retrieval and neural networks to analyze both bone and adipose tissue using synchrotron micro-CT. (READ MORE)

PAPER ACCEPTED in Communications Materials – Nature! Authored by Mike and Yoshi, this work highlights the use of deep learning for in situ synchrotron mechanical testing of bone (READ MORE)

MICHAEL SIEVERTS presented at IEEE eScience right here in SLC! There, he talked about a technique for analyzing multiple tissues in synchrotron micro-CT images.

ALICE L. JEE Award was awarded to Dr. Acevedo at the 2022 Orthopaedic Research Society Musculoskeletal Biology Workshop. Dr. Acevedo presented the F² Lab’s recent work on the effect of diabetes on bone material properties and microstructure. Congrats!

WILLIAM WOOLLEY gave a thought-provoking talk at BONITOS in New York! He presented about the whole-bone mechanical properties of rat bone with type 2 diabetes as well as changes in their microstructure.

WELCOME IHSAN to the F² Lab! Ihsan will be working as a Master student on microscale and nanoscale material properties of structures in bone. Find out more about him at this link! (READ MORE)

NIH R21 Grant Awarded to Dr. Acevedo! The National Institutes of Health Exploratory/Developmental R21 grant was awarded to Dr. Acevedo to research the mechanisms of increased fracture risk in diabetic bone at the collagen molecular level. (READ MORE)

NSF CAREER GRANT AWARDED to Dr. Acevedo! The National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award is a prestigious 5-year award offering 5 years of funding for early-career faculty. Congrats! (READ MORE)