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Technical Considerations for Microstructural Analysis of Human Trabecular Bone from Specimens Excised from Various Skeletal Sites

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Abstract

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 (μCT) 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 μCT 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 μm, 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 μCT 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 μCT scanner.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Drs. Bruno Koller and Andres Laib (Scanco Medical) for their valuable advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    E. Nägele, V. Kuhn, H. Vogt & F. Eckstein

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

    E. Nägele, V. Kuhn, H. Vogt & E. -M. Lochmüller

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

    T. M. Link

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

    R. Müller

  5. Institute of Anatomy, Paracelsa’s Private Medical University, Müllner Hauptstr., Salzburg, Austria

    F. Eckstein

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  1. E. Nägele
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  2. V. Kuhn
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  3. H. Vogt
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  4. T. M. Link
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  6. E. -M. Lochmüller
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  7. F. Eckstein
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Correspondence to F. Eckstein.

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Nägele, E., Kuhn, V., Vogt, H. et al. Technical Considerations for Microstructural Analysis of Human Trabecular Bone from Specimens Excised from Various Skeletal Sites. Calcif Tissue Int 75, 15–22 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-004-0151-8

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