Technical considerations for microstructural analysis of human trabecular bone from specimens excised from various skeletal sites

Nägele, E.<sup>1,2</sup>; Kuhn, V.<sup>1,2</sup>; Vogt, H.<sup>1,2</sup>; Link, T. M.<sup>3</sup>; Müller, R.<sup>4</sup>; Lochmüller, E.-M.<sup>2</sup>; Eckstein, F.<sup>1,5</sup>

Affiliations

¹Musculoskeletal Research Group, Institute of Anatomy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Pettenkoferstr. 11, D-80336 München, Germany

²Universitatsfrauenklinik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Innenstadt, Maistr. 11, D-80337 München, Germany

³Institute for Diagnostic Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Ismaningerstr. 22, D-81675 München, Germany

⁴Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Swiss Federal institute of Technology (ETH) and University of Zürich, Moussonstr, 18, CH-8044 Zürich, Switzerland

⁵Institute of Anatomy, Paracelsarsquos Private Medical University, Müllner Hauptstr., Salzburg, Austria

Abstract and keywords

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of repositioning, systematic displacements of the region of interest (ROI), and acquisition parameters (scan mode and integration time) on quantitative analysis of human trabecular bone microstructure at various skeletal sites, using microcomputed tomographic (mgrCT) technology. We investigated 28 cylindrical specimens of human trabecular bone (length 14 mm, diameter 8 mm) from four skeletal sites (femoral neck, greater trochanter, second lumbar vertebra, and distal radius). These specimens were selected from over 200 mgrCT measurements, in order to cover a large range of bone volume fraction (BV/TV) observed at each site. Cylindrical ROIs (length 6 mm, diameter 6 mm) were examined twice at an isotropic resolution of 26 mgrm, 8 weeks apart. In addition, comparative analyses were performed for displacements of the volumes of interest (VOIs) by 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm (83.4%, 66.6%, 50%, and 33.3% overlap), respectively. Eventually, comparative measurements were obtained at different resolution scan modes and integration times. The results show that mgrCT measurements are highly reproducible (range of the root mean square coefficient variation % (RMS CV%) = 0.64% to 1.29% for BV/TV at different sites). Displacements of the VOI of up to 4 mm generally led to non significant systematic differences in mean values of <10%. When comparing various combinations of resolution scan modes and integration times, the use of an integration time of 100 ms was found to be preferable for determining microstructural parameters from human samples with this mgrCT scanner.

Keywords: Trabecular bone; Microstructure; Microcomputed tomography; Human; Microarchitecture

Links

DOI: 10.1007/s00223-004-0151-8

PubMed: 15037972

WoS: 000222972700003

History

Received: 2003-06-25

Accepted: 2003-12-29

Online: 2004-03-25

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Cited By (10)

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2008	Matsuura M, Eckstein F, Lochmüller E-M, Zysset PK. The role of fabric in the quasi-static compressive mechanical properties of human trabecular bone from various anatomical locations. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. February 2008;7(1):27-42.
2007	Eckstein F, Matsuura M, Kuhn V, Priemel M, Müller R, Link TM, Lochmüller E. Sex differences of human trabecular bone microstructure in aging are site‐dependent. J Bone Miner Res. June 2007;22(6):817-824.
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2010	Chen H, Zhou X, Shoumura S, Emura S, Bunai Y. Age- and gender-dependent changes in three-dimensional microstructure of cortical and trabecular bone at the human femoral neck. Osteoporos Int. April 2010;21(4):627-636.
2005	Day JS. Bone Quality: The Mechanical Effects of Microarchitecture and Matrix Properties [PhD thesis]. Erasmus University Rotterdam; 2005.
2020	Bennison MBL. The Role of Cancellous Bone Architecture in Misalignment and Side Effect Errors [Master's thesis]. Sudbury, ON: Laurentian University; 2020.
2012	Tozzi G. In Vitro Studies of Bone-Cement Interface and Related Work on Cemented Acetabular Replacement [PhD thesis]. Portsmouth, England: University of Portsmouth; May 29, 2012.
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