An inverse method with regularization has been developed to determine the viscoelastic properties of trabecular bone. A series of stress relaxation experiments were performed under the condition of uniaxial compression stress state. Optimization has been formulated within the framework of nonlinear least-squares and a modified Gauss-Newton method with a zeroth-order regularization technique. The stress relaxation behavior of trabecular bone was analyzed using a standard viscoelastic model. The present study clearly shows that trabecular bone exhibits typical viscoelastic stress relaxation behavior, and the obtained material parameters well represent the viscoelastic behavior of trabecular bone