The mechanism of bone deposition and resorption, under stress, is incompletely understood. The direct piezoelectric properties of bone have been suggested as playing an active role in the internal morphology of bone tissue.
This study was designed to fabricate an apparatus and develop a technique to measure, quantitatively, the direct piezoelectric effect of the crystallites of bone.
In vitro studies were done with bone samples taken from bovine femur. The samples were subjected to stress loading and were observed to exhibit a pressure-induced electrical phenomenon. The amplitude of the potentials generated was dependent upon the magnitude of the bony deformation. A linear relationship was observed to exist between the pressure applied and the potential generated. Polarity was found to be a function of the direction of force application. This may indicate that there is some interaction between internal surfaces of the bone that generate a potential on sliding past each other. From these observations it was reasoned that bone in vitro exhibits a piezoelectric effect.
An attempt was made to distinguish as to which of the two fractions, organic or inorganic, was responsible for the potentials generated.
One may postulate that the potentials, generated by the piezoelectric effect of bone, play a role in activating or in selectively inhibiting the cells of the bone cell system. Because the potentials measured were relatively weak, an alternate hypothesis may be that these potentials are associated with unidirectional fluxes of anions and cations from the bone towards the bone surfaces.
","abstract_html":"<p>The mechanism of bone deposition and resorption, under stress, is incompletely understood. The direct piezoelectric properties of bone have been suggested as playing an active role in the internal morphology of bone tissue.</p> <p>This study was designed to fabricate an apparatus and develop a technique to measure, quantitatively, the direct piezoelectric effect of the crystallites of bone.</p> <p>In vitro studies were done with bone samples taken from bovine femur. The samples were subjected to stress loading and were observed to exhibit a pressure-induced electrical phenomenon. The amplitude of the potentials generated was dependent upon the magnitude of the bony deformation. A linear relationship was observed to exist between the pressure applied and the potential generated. Polarity was found to be a function of the direction of force application. This may indicate that there is some interaction between internal surfaces of the bone that generate a potential on sliding past each other. From these observations it was reasoned that bone in vitro exhibits a piezoelectric effect.</p> <p>An attempt was made to distinguish as to which of the two fractions, organic or inorganic, was responsible for the potentials generated.</p> <p>One may postulate that the potentials, generated by the piezoelectric effect of bone, play a role in activating or in selectively inhibiting the cells of the bone cell system. Because the potentials measured were relatively weak, an alternate hypothesis may be that these potentials are associated with unidirectional fluxes of anions and cations from the bone towards the bone surfaces.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gauntt, Lloyd E."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Thomas J. Zwemer","Bernell E. Baldwin","Karl K. Nishimura","Ralph R. Steinman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1965,"date_issued":"1965-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"1965-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:53:37Z","subjects":["Orthodontics and Orthodontology","Physiology","Bone and Bones"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/1323","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Thomas J. Zwemer","Bernell E. Baldwin","Karl K. Nishimura","Ralph R. Steinman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gauntt, Lloyd E."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Orthodontics and Orthodontology","Physiology","Bone and Bones"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/1323"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The mechanism of bone deposition and resorption, under stress, is incompletely understood. The direct piezoelectric properties of bone have been suggested as playing an active role in the internal morphology of bone tissue.
This study was designed to fabricate an apparatus and develop a technique to measure, quantitatively, the direct piezoelectric effect of the crystallites of bone.
In vitro studies were done with bone samples taken from bovine femur. The samples were subjected to stress loading and were observed to exhibit a pressure-induced electrical phenomenon. The amplitude of the potentials generated was dependent upon the magnitude of the bony deformation. A linear relationship was observed to exist between the pressure applied and the potential generated. Polarity was found to be a function of the direction of force application. This may indicate that there is some interaction between internal surfaces of the bone that generate a potential on sliding past each other. From these observations it was reasoned that bone in vitro exhibits a piezoelectric effect.
An attempt was made to distinguish as to which of the two fractions, organic or inorganic, was responsible for the potentials generated.
One may postulate that the potentials, generated by the piezoelectric effect of bone, play a role in activating or in selectively inhibiting the cells of the bone cell system. Because the potentials measured were relatively weak, an alternate hypothesis may be that these potentials are associated with unidirectional fluxes of anions and cations from the bone towards the bone surfaces.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Piezoelectric Effect of Bone In Vitro"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Thomas J. Zwemer","Bernell E. Baldwin","Karl K. Nishimura","Ralph R. Steinman"],"dc:creator":["Gauntt, Lloyd E."],"dc:description.abstract":["The mechanism of bone deposition and resorption, under stress, is incompletely understood. The direct piezoelectric properties of bone have been suggested as playing an active role in the internal morphology of bone tissue.
This study was designed to fabricate an apparatus and develop a technique to measure, quantitatively, the direct piezoelectric effect of the crystallites of bone.
In vitro studies were done with bone samples taken from bovine femur. The samples were subjected to stress loading and were observed to exhibit a pressure-induced electrical phenomenon. The amplitude of the potentials generated was dependent upon the magnitude of the bony deformation. A linear relationship was observed to exist between the pressure applied and the potential generated. Polarity was found to be a function of the direction of force application. This may indicate that there is some interaction between internal surfaces of the bone that generate a potential on sliding past each other. From these observations it was reasoned that bone in vitro exhibits a piezoelectric effect.
An attempt was made to distinguish as to which of the two fractions, organic or inorganic, was responsible for the potentials generated.
One may postulate that the potentials, generated by the piezoelectric effect of bone, play a role in activating or in selectively inhibiting the cells of the bone cell system. Because the potentials measured were relatively weak, an alternate hypothesis may be that these potentials are associated with unidirectional fluxes of anions and cations from the bone towards the bone surfaces.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/1323"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"dc:subject":["Orthodontics and Orthodontology","Physiology","Bone and Bones"],"dc:title":["The Piezoelectric Effect of Bone In Vitro"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:53:37Z"}