Linear measurements of cortical bone and dental enamel by computed tomography: Applications and problems

Spoor, CF; Zonneveld, Frans W.; Macho, Gabriele A.

doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330910405

Cited by 375 publications

(282 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

276

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, even though the errors may be regarded systematic if the correlation coefficients are relied on, further biological investigations, such as structural and biomechanical assessments, may be hampered (Tabor, 2006). The present study aimed to overcome these fundamental problems and explored the usefulness of the HMH method (Zonneveld, 1987;Spoor et al, 1993;Prevrhal et al, 1999) for the determination of Tb.Th. Owing to the high resolution of present-day mCT, this should no longer be a problem.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, between adjacent peaks and troughs, the CT numbers were fitted to a cubic piecewise third-order polynomial spline. The bonenonbone boundary was then identified using interpolation, whereby the halfway point between the maximum and minimum CT values was determined (Spoor et al, 1993). Trabecular thickness was measured as the distance along the transect between the two bone-nonbone boundaries of a single trabecula as adjusted to the spline, then outputted to an ASCII file.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zonneveld (1987) outlined the full-width, half-maximum-height (HMH) principle to determine the boundaries between structures. This was subsequently validated on biological specimens (Spoor et al, 1993) and the limitations, specifically with regard to the resolution of the images, were discussed. Recently, Prevrhal et al (1999Prevrhal et al ( , 2003 reevaluated the protocol (referred to as 50% method by them) on a phantom and similarly demonstrated that the main confounding factor for obtaining accurate measures is the resolution.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Automated method to measure trabecular thickness from microcomputed tomographic scans and its application

et al. 2006

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trabeculae form the internal bony mesh work and provide strength to the bone; interconnectivity, overall density, and trabecular thickness are important measures of the integrity of the internal architecture. Such strength is achieved only gradually during ontogeny, whereby an increase in trabecular thickness precedes an increase in mineralization. Loss of bone mass later in life may be compensated for by thickening of the remaining trabeculae. These facts, and the role of trabeculae in mineral homeostasis, highlight the importance of investigating trabecular thickness within and between species. While nondestructive imaging techniques (i.e., mCT and MRI) are becoming increasingly popular, quantification of trabecular thickness using nondestructive techniques has proved difficult owing to limitations imposed by scanning parameters, uniform thresholding, and partial volume averaging. Here we present a computer application, which aims to overcome these problems. Validation is carried out against a phantom and against trabecular thickness measured in corresponding histological sections. Good agreement was found between these measurements. Furthermore, when trabecular thickness is recorded for modern human fetal ilia, a trend toward trabecular thickness increase is found and is in line with reports of ontogenetic morphometric changes using histological sections. However, there are discrepancies. These may in part be due to partial volume effects of obliquely oriented structures. More crucial, however, are problems inherent in histological sections, e.g., shrinkage and distortion, especially where differences in mineralization are concerned; this may affect biological interpretations. Anat Rec Part A, 288A: 982-988, 2006.2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Automated method to measure trabecular thickness from microcomputed tomographic scans and its application

et al. 2006

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The reconstruction diameter and pixel resolution were 223 and 0.44 mm. The half-maximum height protocol (Spoor et al, 1993) was used to reconstruct each cranial surface from the CT scan via the software package Amira (Mercury Computer Systems, Chelmsford, MA).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Assessment of the Endocranial Morphology of the Early Modern European Fossil Calvaria From Cioclovina, Romania

Kranioti

Holloway

Senck

et al. 2011

The Anatomical Record

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Endocasts provide evidence on size and shape characteristics, blood supply trajectories, and neurological features of the brain, allowing comparative analyses of fossil hominins crucial to our understanding of human brain evolution. Here, we assess the morphological features of the virtual endocast of the Cioclovina Upper Paleolithic calvarium, one of the earliest reliably dated European modern human fossils. Our study was conducted on a computed tomography (CT) scan of the original specimen. The endocranial profile was approximated via a semiautomatic segmentation of the CT data. Virtual reconstructions of the endocast were used for assessing the morphological features of the endocranium and for the estimation of the endocranial volume. Cioclovina exhibits a clockwise torque with a small anterior extension of the left frontal lobe over the right one and a protrusion of the right occipital lobe over the left, most likely due to the superior sagittal sinus coursing over the occipital pole. There is an obvious right predominance of the posterior drainage system. Interestingly, the area of the frontal sinus is occupied by dense bony tissue with small air cells corresponding probably to a natural bony loss in the diploë and to vascular spaces. An estimated endocranial volume of 1498.53 cc was calculated. The convolutional details of the third inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's caps) are indistinguishable from those found in modern Homo sapiens, and the left occipital lobe appears wider than the right, a possible correlate of right-handedness. Our metric analysis of endocranial measurements also aligns Cioclovina with modern humans. Anat Rec,

show abstract

“…There are certainly methodological differences between studies (e.g., Beynon & Wood, 1986;Beynon et al 1991;Grine & Martin, 1988;Macho & Thackeray 1992;Martin 1985;Spoor et al 1993), but the consensus still seems to be that the australopithecines had relatively thick enamel compared with living primates, and that many of the Miocene apes also had thick enamel (Andrews & Martin, 1991; Beynon et al 1997;Beynon & Wood, 1986;Gantt, 1986;Grine & Martin, 1988;Kay, 1985;Macho & Thackeray 1992;Robinson, 1956). Interestingly, this perspective may be changing as we get glimpses of more and more new taxa.…”

Section: Enamel Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Humanity from African Naissance to Coming Millennia

Tobias¹,

Raath²,

Moggi‐Cecchi³

et al. 2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The first 2.5 million years of hominid history is characterized by limited dispersals similar to those of the living great apes whose home range sizes very little between years. Unlike our closest relative Pan, who are particulary vulnerable during dispersal because the distribution of their resources is highly habitat specific and predation takes a relatively higher toll than it does in r-selected animals, hominids are widely dispersed after 1.8 Ma. Hominid dispersal must have entailed either a shift in the types of resources exploited or a technological advance to ensure resource availability or both. Using data from ecology, geochronology, morphology, and paleontology we assess the initial hominid dispersal from Africa and the relationship to patterns of dispersal in nonhuman primates and large mammals of both 'widely dispersing' and 'non-dispersing' species. The dispersal rates of Plio/Pleistocene hominids differ from those of nonhuman primates and are typical of widely-dispersing large mammals. In fact, H. erectus first appears in Java almost immediately after its appearence in Africa, yet its first appearence in Java is contemporaneous with that of Colobus, Macaca, and Pongo that had already inhabited mainland Asia for millions of years. Although the timing of the first hominid dispersal pre-dates significant technological advances, the energy required by larger hominid body/brain sizes suggest a shift to exploitation of highprotein packages that, according to correlation between faunal and chronometric sequences, is itself dispersing. These data suggest that it is at the origin of H. erectus (sensu lato) that our uniquely human dispersal capabilities began to emerge and that this dispersal is not primarily due to the technological innovation of the Acheulean tradition. IntroductionThe global distribution of Homo sapiens contrasts with the restricted ranges of our closest living primate relative, Pan. Yet for some three million years after our lineages diverged, both were apparently exclusively African phenomena, as Pan remains today. These current biogeographic differences are reflected in home range (HR) sizes that are some 15 to 100 times greater in recent human huntergatherers than in Pan. (23 hectares in Pan, 330-2600 in humans; Leonard and Robertson, 2000). Although an extensive literature considers the significance of the behavioral repertoire that allows the final, relatively late, dispersal of Homo sapiens into Australasia, North and South America, and Siberia (e.g., Lindly & Clark, 1990;Roberts et al., 1991; Davidson & Noble, 1992; Jelinek, 1994; Waters et al., 1997), the origin of this difference in dispersal patterns is not well understood.The original hominid dispersal from Africa has been viewed as a largely hominid (technologically) driven rather than ecologically driven phenomenon. Such scenarios are based on the idea that widely dispersed ex-African hominids are not found before 1.0 ma (Pope, 1983) or are not found before the development of the Acheulean (Wolpoff, 1999), and thus that th...

show abstract

Linear measurements of cortical bone and dental enamel by computed tomography: Applications and problems

Cited by 375 publications

References 29 publications

Automated method to measure trabecular thickness from microcomputed tomographic scans and its application

Automated method to measure trabecular thickness from microcomputed tomographic scans and its application

Virtual Assessment of the Endocranial Morphology of the Early Modern European Fossil Calvaria From Cioclovina, Romania

Humanity from African Naissance to Coming Millennia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About