Micromechanical oscillators and techniques for determining the dynamic moduli of microsamples of human cortical bone at microstrains.

Two micromechanical oscillators are described along with methods and techniques which have been successfully used to determine the elastic, dynamic, shear and Young's moduli at microstrain levels, and which with proper design modifications might, under restricted experimental conditions, also be employed to determine viscous moduli. Although these systems can be used with any microsamples, they were designed originally for dynamic studies of the unit microstructural element of human cortical bone, the secondary osteon (Haversian system).