Even though trabecular bone contains a lot of intertrabecular space, its spatial complexity contributes the maximal strength with minimum mass.

It is noted that the form and structure of trabecular bone are organized to optimally resist loads imposed by functional activities, like jumping, running and squatting.

Thus, the micro structure of trabecular bone is typically oriented and ''grain'' of porosity is aligned in a direction at which mechanical stiffness and strength are greatest.

The heterogeneous character makes it difficult to summarize the general mechanical properties for trabecular bone.

The effects of aging and small cracking of trabecular bone on its mechanical properties are a source of further study.

[9] Loss of bone mass is defined by the World Health Organization as osteopenia if bone mineral density (BMD) is one standard deviation below mean BMD in young adults, and is defined as osteoporosis if it is more than 2.5 standard deviations below the mean.

[10] A low bone density greatly increases risk for stress fracture, which can occur without warning.

[12] With osteoporosis there are often also symptoms of osteoarthritis, which occurs when cartilage in joints is under excessive stress and degrades over time, causing stiffness, pain, and loss of movement.

It establishes high specific strength and supplements open airways to accommodate the skeletal pneumaticity common to many birds.

The specific strength and resistance to buckling is optimized through a bone design that combines a thin, hard shell that encases a spongy core of trabeculae.

[17] The allometry of the trabeculae allows the skeleton to tolerate loads without significantly increasing the bone mass.

[18] The red-tailed hawk optimizes its weight with a repeating pattern of V-shaped struts that give the bones the necessary lightweight and stiff characteristics.

The inner network of trabeculae shifts mass away from the neutral axis, which ultimately increases the resistance to buckling.

[19] Besides the difference in distribution, the aspect ratio of the individual struts was higher in woodpeckers than in other birds of similar size such as the Eurasian hoopoe[19] or the lark.

The decrease in strain on the woodpecker's brain has been attributed to the higher quantity of thicker plate-like struts packed more closely together than the hawk or hoopoe or the lark.

A destructive mechanical test with 12 samples show the woodpecker's trabeculae design has an average ultimate strength of 6.38MPa, compared to the lark's 0.55MPa.

The staggered timing of impact induces a lower strain on the trabeculae in the forehead, occiput, and beak.

From a scale of tens of micrometers, which is approximately the size of osteocytes, the figure below shows that thicker trabeculae exhibited less strain.

The vascularization by tunneling osteons changes the trabecular geometry from solid to tube-like, increasing bending stiffness for individual trabeculae and sustaining blood supply to deep tissue osteocytes.

Bone volume fraction (BV/TV) was found to be relatively constant for the variety of animal sizes tested.

The woodpecker's ability to resist repetitive head impact is correlated with its unique micro/nano-hierarchical composite structures.

[20] Microstructure and nanostructure of the woodpecker's skull consists of an uneven distribution of spongy bone, the organizational shape of individual trabeculae.

This affects the woodpecker's mechanical properties, allowing the cranial bone to withstand a high ultimate strength (σu).

Trabeculum persists in some countries as a synonym for the trabecular meshwork of the eye, but this can be considered poor usage on the grounds of both etymology and descriptive accuracy.