Determination of connectivity density in human iliac crest bone biopsies assessed by a computerized method

The aim of the present study was to design a computer program (based on the ConnEulor principle) for direct measurement of 3-D connectivity density in iliac crest bone sections, as used for conventional histomorphometry. We used the physical disector principle and developed an algorithm for nonlinear alignment of the disector pairs. 3-D connectivity was evaluated in transiliac specimens from 30 nonselected autopsy cases of 14 men (age range 20–84 years) and 16 women (age range 20–96 years). In order to visualize the findings from the disector pairs, 3-D reconstruction was performed for two of the iliac crest biopsies. The designed computer program aligns the two sections forming a disector pair and automatically depicts the differences between the images, thereby making correct, direct connectivity density measurements available for conventional bone research.