Assessment of Quality in Osteoporotic Human Trabecular Bone and Its Relationship to Mechanical Properties

Abstract

We propose an experimental technique for the estimation of quality parameters of post-mortem human bone samples with signs of osteoporosis. Since we were interested in characterizing bone microstructure by evaluating porosity, trabecular thickness, and space, we obtained reference values of those parameters for some of our samples through micro-computerized tomography (micro-CT). Nevertheless, as such technology is not widely available, here we used a 2D imaging approximation of those quality parameters. We based our estimation on simple digital microscopy and calibrated to ensure a percentage of similarity higher than 95% in comparison to those values achieved through micro-CT. Additionally, we subjected our samples to mechanical testing to obtain a complete characterization of our samples and to provide a preliminary assessment of the possible relationship between clinical tests of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone quality parameters. Our results show that BMD may have very low specificity in the assessment of the authentic microstructure of bone, then a broader analysis of quality parameters is required to enhance the reliability of future osteoporosis diagnosis technologies.

Correlation of the mechanical and structural properties of trabecular bone assessed by wave propagation and imaging methods

“…The imaging techniques have been extensively used in prior studies to assess the morphology and behavior of bone and obtain its structural parameters. [31][32][33][34][35] For instance, Tassani et al 31 investigated the anisotropy and inhomogeneity of osteoarthritic trabecular bone using micro-CT imaging and described the mechanical strength of trabecular bone using these morphological features. Tamimi et al 33 studied the microstructure and composition of trabecular bone in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis using different imaging techniques including the X-ray absorptiometry, micro-CT, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and assessed the role of the structural parameters in osteoporotic fractures of trabecular bone.…”

A study of the influence of genetic variance and sex on the density and thickness of the calvarial bone in collaborative cross mice

“…To date, most clinical and experimental studies of the effect of genes on bone density, porosity and microarchitecture, as well as genetic determinants of osteoporosis, have focused on morphometric traits in the long bones (e.g. femur, tibia, and radius) and spinal vertebrae, 9–12 with far fewer studies addressing the skull bone traits 13–15 …”

“…[6][7][8] To date, most clinical and experimental studies of the effect of genes on bone density, porosity and microarchitecture, as well as genetic determinants of osteoporosis, have focused on morphometric traits in the long bones (e.g. femur, tibia, and radius) and spinal vertebrae, [9][10][11][12] with far fewer studies addressing the skull bone traits. [13][14][15] Because large human datasets of genetic and calvarial microarchitectural data are lacking, we conducted a microcomputed tomography analysis in the genetically diverse, inbred, and fixed Collaborative Cross population of mice.…”