Year: 2013
STAR Project Title: Osteonal Parameters in Skeletally Immature Porcine Tibia
STAR Project Abstract: There is limited information on the microstructure of pediatric bone tissue. Due to a dearth of post-mortem pediatric human specimens, there is a need to identify an age-equivalent animal model for pediatric long bones. The objective of this study is to quantify the microstructure of skeletally immature porcine tibia. Tibia from three-month old (n=14) and six-month old (n=16) pigs were used for the study. Five millimeter thick sections were made at 38% and 50% sites from the distal end of the tibia using an Isomet 1000 precision saw (Buehler, Lake Bluff, IL) and block-mounted in a slow curing epoxy resin. The epoxy blocks were ground using 400- and 600-grit sandpaper and polished with 1.0- and 0.05-micron alumina slurry using a PowerPro 4000 (Buehler, Lake Bluff, IL). For each bone section, several regions of interest were imaged at 100X magnification using a Leica DM 4000-B upright microscope, and processed using ImageJ software. Population, distribution and size of the primary and secondary osteons were computed. Initial findings show a greater number of secondary osteons in the periosteal region than the endosteal region. Knowledge of immature porcine bone microstructure could help provide insight into identifying a suitable animal surrogate for pediatric bone.
STAR Project Title: Osteonal Parameters in Skeletally Immature Porcine Tibia
STAR Project Abstract: There is limited information on the microstructure of pediatric bone tissue. Due to a dearth of post-mortem pediatric human specimens, there is a need to identify an age-equivalent animal model for pediatric long bones. The objective of this study is to quantify the microstructure of skeletally immature porcine tibia. Tibia from three-month old (n=14) and six-month old (n=16) pigs were used for the study. Five millimeter thick sections were made at 38% and 50% sites from the distal end of the tibia using an Isomet 1000 precision saw (Buehler, Lake Bluff, IL) and block-mounted in a slow curing epoxy resin. The epoxy blocks were ground using 400- and 600-grit sandpaper and polished with 1.0- and 0.05-micron alumina slurry using a PowerPro 4000 (Buehler, Lake Bluff, IL). For each bone section, several regions of interest were imaged at 100X magnification using a Leica DM 4000-B upright microscope, and processed using ImageJ software. Population, distribution and size of the primary and secondary osteons were computed. Initial findings show a greater number of secondary osteons in the periosteal region than the endosteal region. Knowledge of immature porcine bone microstructure could help provide insight into identifying a suitable animal surrogate for pediatric bone.