**7. Conclusion**

The BMU, previously seen as a changing structure where homogenous cell populations enter, act, and leave, is now revealed to be a tiny microenvironment where heterogeneous cell types mingle and interact with each other to provide a delicate preservation of bone quality and quantity, with highly coordinated activities between the different actors through a complex communication network. Besides, the integrity of bone homeostasis is significantly based on a proper detection and transduction of the mechanical stimulus to biochemical signals. This is mainly performed by osteocytes that were found to be the major mechanosensory and most abundant cells in an adult skeleton. However, the precise mechanisms by which osteocytes perceive and transduce mechanical forces are still unclear. What have emerged is the complexity and multiplicity of the signaling systems activated by subjecting bone to mechanical strains. Owing to the unique in vivo environment of an osteocyte, it is difficult to establish in vitro models that faithfully replicate the required processes. Still, recent technological advances have demonstrated an impressive progress in understanding osteocyte biology and functions, and further elucidation on the mechanobiological mechanisms of osteocytes holds promises of biological and medical implications.

Mathematical models have recently been widely largely used in biomechanical engineering to better understand bone dynamics and mechanical behavior, and to prevent thereby bone pathologies and fractures. Mathematically describing bone

#### *Cell Interaction and Mechanobiological Modeling of Bone Remodeling Process DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95045*

cellular and biomechanical behavior is not an easy task to perform, since bone is a living heterogeneous composite material and attempting to model it strongly depends on numerous mechanical and biochemical factors. It should be noted that accurate predictions are tightly linked to realistic characterization of the material behavior. Many of these models are currently combined with FE method to numerically investigate specific scenarios. Although the FE method presents several limitations, the accuracy of numerical results may be improved due to emerging advancing techniques and FE analysis still provides an important tool for assessing bone properties and understanding its behavior. It also offers a personalized analysis of bone stiffness based on specific measurements. The development of the FE method could successfully prevent and treat age- and disease-related bone fractures. The accurate assessment of bone structure and mechanical properties, with a more realistic prediction of applied stresses, should significantly improve the outcome of FE modeling and make this method effective in treating patients and developing new implant designs.
