Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Collagen fibril
Gap
Mineral
Cross link
FIGURE 9.19
Schematic illustration of mineral collagen fiber.
w
τ 0
∂σ 0
x
σ 0 +
x
σ 0
Collagen
h
∂σ 1
x
σ 1 +
x
σ 1
τ 1
w
(a)
τ
Collagen
τ
(b)
τ 0
∂σ 0
x
σ 0 +
x
σ 0
τ
τ
∂σ 1
x
x
σ 1 +
σ 1
τ 1
(c)
FIGURE 9.20
Schematic presentation of the model.
with the adjacent collagen molecule. There is a covalent cross link in the
overlap region connecting adjacent collagen molecules. Collagen molecules
are filled and coated by platelet-like tiny mineral crystals, which form the
mineralized collagen fibril. A group of collagen fibrils embedded with the
mineral crystals forms the hierarchical structure of collagen fiber.
Let the dotted rectangular area in Figure 9.19 represent a segment of min-
eral collagen. A theoretical model representing the segment is employed in
this section [41]. The model has a collagen layer sandwiched between two
mineral layers (Figure 9.20a). Although collagen fibrils are oriented in various
 
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