“Mathematical Models for Bone Formation and Metabolism”
On the microscopic level, bone consists of cells that create, destroy and monitor the bone matrix. These cells interact in a coordinated manner to maintain a tightly regulated homeostasis. The manner in which these cells interact to bring about a change in bone quality and quantity has yet to be fully elucidated. But efforts to understand the multicellular complexity can ultimately lead to eradication of metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis and improved implant longevity. A cellular automata model was constructed to simulate the in vitro characterization. Permutation tests were performed to compare the distribution of the mineralization in the cultures and the distribution of the mineralization in the mathematical models. The results of the permutation test show the distribution of mineralization from the characterization and mathematical model come from the same probability distribution, therefore validating the cellular automata model.
Alicia Prieto Langarica is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Youngstown State University.