Journal Article

Bone microarchitectural analysis using ultra-high-resolution CT in tiger vertebra and human tibia

Ryuichi Nakahara, Youhei Marukawa, Noriaki Akagi, Ryota Inai, Takashi Tanaka, Yoshihisa Nasu, Susumu Kanazawa, Toshi Matsushita, Takao Hiraki, Keiichiro Nishida, Akihiro Tada, Toshifumi Ozaki, Yusuke Morimitsu

2020

Overview

Background To reveal trends in bone microarchitectural parameters with increasing spatial resolution on ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (UHRCT) in vivo and to compare its performance with that of conventional-resolution CT (CRCT) and micro-CT ex vivo . Methods We retrospectively assessed 5 tiger vertebrae ex vivo and 16 human tibiae in vivo . Seven-pattern and four-pattern resolution imaging were performed on tiger vertebra using CRCT, UHRCT, and micro-CT, and on human tibiae using UHRCT. We measured six microarchitectural parameters: volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), trabecular bone volume fraction (bone volume/total volume, BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), and connectivity density (ConnD). Comparisons between different imaging resolutions were performed using Tukey or Dunnett T3 test. Results The vBMD, BV/TV, Tb.N, and ConnD parameters showed an increasing trend, while Tb.Sp showed a decreasing trend both ex vivo and in vivo . Ex vivo , UHRCT at the two highest resolutions (1024- and 2048-matrix imaging with 0.25-mm slice thickness) and CRCT showed significant differences ( p ≤ 0.047) in vBMD (51.4 mg/cm 3 and 63.5 mg/cm 3 versus 20.8 mg/cm 3 ), BV/TV (26.5% and 29.5% versus 13.8 %), Tb.N (1.3 l/mm and 1.48 l/mm versus 0.47 l/mm), and ConnD (0.52 l/mm 3 and 0.74 l/mm 3 versus 0.02 l/mm 3 , respectively). In vivo , the 512- and 1024-matrix imaging with 0.25-mm slice thickness showed significant differences in Tb.N (0.38 l/mm versus 0.67 l/mm, respectively) and ConnD (0.06 l/mm 3 versus 0.22 l/mm 3 , respectively). Conclusions We observed characteristic trends in microarchitectural parameters and demonstrated the potential utility of applying UHRCT for microarchitectural analysis.

• Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC,Springer International Publishing,Springer Nature B.V,SpringerOpen
• Subject: Animals / Bone Density / Diagnostic Radiology / Humans / Imaging / In Vitro Techniques / Internal Medicine / Interventional Radiology / Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Neuroradiology / Original / Original Article / Osteoporosis / R895-920 / Radiology / Spine / Spine - ultrastructure / Tibia / Tibia - ultrastructure / Tigers / Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Trends / Ultrasound / Vertebrae / X-Ray Microtomography