Sea Urchin Mineralized Tissue

Stuart R Stock*, K. Ignatiev, F. De Carlo, M. K. Stock, Arthur Veis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Sea urchin ossicles are structural analogs of mammalian bones and serve as a model biomineral system, Sea urchins employ as wide a range of composite reinforcement strategies as are seen in engineering composites, and, studied as materials, teeth (and other ossicles) from different echinoid families illustrate combinations of reinforcement parameters and toughening mechanisms providing good functionality. Studying ossicles from different sea urchin families, therefore, is one method of probing the composite design space available to sea urchins, and this offers important guidance for engineering of structural tissue. This report is part of a larger multi-mode x-ray investigation employing microCT, both synchrotron and laboratory sources, phase contrast radiography and transmission microbeam diffraction mapping; voxels (volume elements) approaching 1 μ3 can be interrogated noninvasively in millimeter sized samples. Only microCT results are presented below; these focus on sea urchin lanterns (jaw structure) and spines of a variety of sea urchin types and serve to illustrate how this sort of integrated approach might be applied to bone.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)107-114
Number of pages8
JournalMaterials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings
Volume774
DOIs
StatePublished - 2003
EventMATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS: Materials Inspired by Biology - San Francisco, CA, United States
Duration: Apr 21 2003Apr 25 2003

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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