Quantitative study of osteoporosis model based on synchrotron radiation

To investigate the changes of different periods of primary osteoporosis, we made quantitative analysis of osteoporosis using synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SRCT), together with histomorphometry analysis and finite element analysis (FEA). Tibias, femurs and lumbar vertebras were dissected from sham-ovariectomy rats and ovariectomized rats suffering from osteoporosis at certain time points. The samples were scanned by SRCT and then FEA was applied based on reconstructed slices. Histomorphometry analysis showed that the structure of some trabecular in osteoporosis degraded as the bone volume decreased, for femurs, the bone volume fraction (BV/TV) decreased from 69% to 43%. That led to the increase of the thickness of trabecular separation (from 45.05μm to 97.09μm) and the reduction of the number of trabecular (from 7.99 mm^-1 to 5.97mm^-1). Simulation of various mechanical tests indicated that, with the exacerbation of osteoporosis, the bones´ ability of resistance to compression, bending and torsion gradually became weaker. The compression stiffness decreased from 1770.96 Fμm^-1 to 697.41 Fμm^-1, and it matched the histomorphometry analysis. This study suggested that the combination of both analysis could quantitatively analyze the bone strength in good accuracy.