ABSTRACT
Bone is a firm structure that forms the main framework of a vertebrate skeleton. It gives strength, rigidity, and support to the body. The total bony structure of an adult human skeleton is comprised of mainly two types of bone: cortical and cancellous. In a bone, most of the microstructural features of interest are a few micrometers or more in dimension. To understand the mechanical integrity of the cortical bone at such ultra-structural length scale, nanoindentation is an important technique. The ability of the technique to detect the local mechanical properties within a small volume of the material helps to obtain the nanomechanical properties of the individual lamellar region of the cortical bone. This chapter deals with the study of the variations of mechanical properties at the lamellar level in human bone as a function of age to identify any age-related reductions in the mechanical integrity of the bone. It focuses on the gender-related mechanical response of human cortical bone.
