Detection of Microcracks During Bone Cutting Using Acoustic Emission Techniques

Surgeons may use a number of cutting instruments such as osteotomes and chisels to cut bone during operative procedures. The initial loading of cortical bone during the cutting process results in the formation of microcracks in the vicinity of the cutting zone with main crack propagation to failure occurring with continued loading; microcracking acts as a stimulus for main crack formation and has also been shown to occur during the propagation of the main crack. It has also been reported that Acoustic Emission (AE) is generated due to microcrack formation and crack growth, prior to, and during final fracture in tensile loading of bovine and human cortical bone. In this study, we recorded the number of AE hits and AE signal amplitudes during monotonic indentation cutting of cortical bone, to correlate between the intensity and duration of the signals and micro and macro crack formation and propagation.