a fracture mobility testing system is provided for use in surgical procedures for augmenting vertebral bodies having collapsed due to compression fractures . the testing system is utilized to determine if the cortical shell of the vertebral body has begun to heal over the fracture lines to the point at which height restoration is not possible . depending on the feedback provided by the testing system , the surgeon may elect to proceed with any of a variety of known height restoration techniques if the fractured portions of the vertebral body are still mobile , or may elect for a simple vertebroplasty procedure without height restoration if the feedback from the testing system determines that the cortical outer portions of the fractured vertebral body have fused to one another to the point at which height restoration is no longer an option .