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Piezoelectric Effect in Bone

Abstract

THERE is convincing evidence that bone has an orderly morphological and microscopic structure. This evidence is derived mainly from electron microscopy, ordinary histological preparations, and microradiography1. Such a structure, consisting essentially of apatite crystals embedded in an organic matrix, might be expected to exhibit piezoelectric properties, as in the case of many other multicrystalline structures.

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References

  1. McLean, F. C., and Urist, M. R., Bone, second ed. (Univ. Chicago Press, 1961).

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  2. Fukada, E., and Yasuda, I., J. Phys. Soc. Japan, 12, 1158 (1957).

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  3. Yasuda, I., Noguchi, K., and Sata, T., Proc. J. Bone and Joint Surg., 37, A, 1292 (1955).

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  4. Bassett, C. Andrew (private communication).

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SHAMOS, M., LAVINE, L. & SHAMOS, M. Piezoelectric Effect in Bone. Nature 197, 81 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/197081a0

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