The mechanical properties of human ribs in young adult.

A good understanding of thoracic biomechanics is important for complete examination and control of chest behaviour under conditions of physiological and pathological work, and under the impact of external forces leading to traumatic loading of the chest. The purpose of the study was to analyse the mechanical properties of human ribs obtained from individuals under the age of 25 with scoliosis deformation and to correlate them with geometric properties of ribs. Thirty three fragments of ribs (9th to 12th) were tested in three-point bending. Rib fragments were collected intraoperatively from female patients treated for scoliosis in the thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar spine. The results were used to determine the maximum failure force, stiffness, and Young's modulus. A significant relationship was found between the age and elastic modulus of the ribs. The analysis was carried out for two age groups, i.e., between the ages of 10 and 15 and between the ages of 16 and 22, and statistically significant differences were obtained for Young's modulus (p = 0.0001) amounting to, respectively, 2.79 ± 1.34 GPa for the first group and 7.44 ± 2.85 GPa for the second group. The results show a significant impact of age on the mechanical properties of ribs.