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Feasibility of in vivo 3D microCT imaging of cortical bone vascular porosity in the rat
Author(s) -
Pratt Isaac Vorster,
Cooper David Michael Lane
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.531.1
Subject(s) - in vivo , cortical bone , biomedical engineering , x ray microtomography , ex vivo , synchrotron , materials science , cortex (anatomy) , nuclear medicine , anatomy , medicine , radiology , biology , optics , neuroscience , physics , microbiology and biotechnology
Cortical bone is a dynamic tissue which undergoes adaptive and pathological changes through life. An improved understanding of the spatio‐temporal nature of these changes holds great promise for aiding the study of bone development, maintenance and senescence. Commercial in vivo microCT scanners operate with maximal resolutions in the 10–20 um range producing doses of 0.5–1 Gy for trabecular bone imaging. As dose scales exponentially with resolution, in vivo visualization of cortical microarchitecture remains beyond the reach of these systems. This study explored the feasibility of utilizing synchrotron propagation phase contrast microCT to resolve vascular porosity in the cortex of rat bone with doses suitable for in vivo imaging. We imaged ex vivo rat distal limbs at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, determined the optimal propagation distance and used ion chamber and thermoluminescent dosimetry to measure dose. We found that 10 um resolution with 0.6 m of propagation distance at 37 keV was sufficient to visualize cortical pores with doses in the range of 2–4 Gy. Further optimization of the scan protocol promises to reduce dose to levels comparable to conventional trabecular bone scans. Grant Funding Source : NSERC