Applications of a new handheld reference point indentation instrument measuring bone material strength

A novel, hand-held Reference Point Indentation (RPI) instrument, measures how well thebone of living patients and large animals resists indentation. The results presented hereare reported in terms of Bone Material Strength, which is a normalized measure of howwell the bone resists indentation, and is inversely related to the indentation distance intothe bone. We present examples of the instrument's use in: (1) laboratory experiments onbone, including experiments through a layer of soft tissue, (2) three human clinical trials,two ongoing in Barcelona and at the Mayo Clinic, and one completed in Portland, OR,and (3) two ongoing horse clinical trials, one at Purdue University and another at AlamoPintado Stables in California. The instrument is capable of measuring consistent valueswhen testing through soft tissue such as skin and periosteum, and does so handheld, animprovement over previous Reference Point Indentation instruments. Measurements conductedon horses showed reproducible results when testing the horse through tissue or onbare bone. In the human clinical trials, reasonable and consistent values were obtained,suggesting the OsteoprobeVR is capable of measuring Bone Material Strength in vivo, butlarger studies are needed to determine the efficacy of the instrument's use in medical diagnosis.