Have you ever wondered what our bones look like when we were young? The bones in our body have a different appearance depending on maturity. For example, the sacrum starts as lots of small pieces of bone which eventually fuse to form the single adult sacrum at puberty.

As one of the component of the pelvic complex, the sacrum plays an important role in transferring body weight from the backbone towards the lower limbs. Therefore, the sacrum is an important component in the biomechanics of activities such as walking.

Interestingly, even though the sacrum is not a single bone from early development, it appears that it is capable of withstanding the forces associated with standing and walking in its unfused state. My research investigates the following questions: How do these mechanisms occur? Which part of the sacrum is involved in weight transmission? Are there any changes in the internal structure of the sacrum which reflect the pattern of weight transmission in relation to age?

This project aims to investigate the mechanism of weight transmission from the upper body through the sacroiliac joint into the pelvis. It is hoped that the final findings will advance our knowledge of biomechanics of the sacrum and the sacroiliac joint.