A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study

Low dose microcomputed tomography (μCT) is a recently matured technique that enables the study of longitudinal bone healing and the testing of experimental treatments for bone repair. This imaging technique has been used for studying craniofacial repair in mice but not in an orthopedic context. This...

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Main Authors: Lu-Zhao Di, Vanessa Couture, Élisabeth Leblanc, Yasaman Alinejad, Jean-François Beaudoin, Roger Lecomte, François Berthod, Nathalie Faucheux, Frédéric Balg, Guillaume Grenier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:Advances in Orthopedics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/791539
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author Lu-Zhao Di
Vanessa Couture
Élisabeth Leblanc
Yasaman Alinejad
Jean-François Beaudoin
Roger Lecomte
François Berthod
Nathalie Faucheux
Frédéric Balg
Guillaume Grenier
author_facet Lu-Zhao Di
Vanessa Couture
Élisabeth Leblanc
Yasaman Alinejad
Jean-François Beaudoin
Roger Lecomte
François Berthod
Nathalie Faucheux
Frédéric Balg
Guillaume Grenier
author_sort Lu-Zhao Di
collection DOAJ
description Low dose microcomputed tomography (μCT) is a recently matured technique that enables the study of longitudinal bone healing and the testing of experimental treatments for bone repair. This imaging technique has been used for studying craniofacial repair in mice but not in an orthopedic context. This is mainly due to the size of the defects (approximately 1.0 mm) in long bone, which heal rapidly and may thus negatively impact the assessment of the effectiveness of experimental treatments. We developed a longitudinal low dose μCT scan analysis method combined with a new image segmentation and extraction software using Hounsfield unit (HU) scores to quantitatively monitor bone healing in small femoral cortical defects in live mice. We were able to reproducibly quantify bone healing longitudinally over time with three observers. We used high speed intramedullary reaming to prolong healing in order to circumvent the rapid healing typical of small defects. Bone healing prolongation combined with μCT imaging to study small bone defects in live mice thus shows potential as a promising tool for future preclinical research on bone healing.
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institution OA Journals
issn 2090-3464
2090-3472
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publishDate 2014-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series Advances in Orthopedics
spelling doaj-art-8085a34b07e047b4ab126b564e435c152025-08-20T02:08:36ZengWileyAdvances in Orthopedics2090-34642090-34722014-01-01201410.1155/2014/791539791539A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot StudyLu-Zhao Di0Vanessa Couture1Élisabeth Leblanc2Yasaman Alinejad3Jean-François Beaudoin4Roger Lecomte5François Berthod6Nathalie Faucheux7Frédéric Balg8Guillaume Grenier9Research Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaLaboratoire d’Organogénèse Expérimentale (LOEX), Research Center of CHUQ, Enfant-Jésus Hospital, 1401, 18th Street, Quebec City, QC, G1J 1Z4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaResearch Center of CHUS (CRCHUS), 3001, 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, CanadaLow dose microcomputed tomography (μCT) is a recently matured technique that enables the study of longitudinal bone healing and the testing of experimental treatments for bone repair. This imaging technique has been used for studying craniofacial repair in mice but not in an orthopedic context. This is mainly due to the size of the defects (approximately 1.0 mm) in long bone, which heal rapidly and may thus negatively impact the assessment of the effectiveness of experimental treatments. We developed a longitudinal low dose μCT scan analysis method combined with a new image segmentation and extraction software using Hounsfield unit (HU) scores to quantitatively monitor bone healing in small femoral cortical defects in live mice. We were able to reproducibly quantify bone healing longitudinally over time with three observers. We used high speed intramedullary reaming to prolong healing in order to circumvent the rapid healing typical of small defects. Bone healing prolongation combined with μCT imaging to study small bone defects in live mice thus shows potential as a promising tool for future preclinical research on bone healing.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/791539
spellingShingle Lu-Zhao Di
Vanessa Couture
Élisabeth Leblanc
Yasaman Alinejad
Jean-François Beaudoin
Roger Lecomte
François Berthod
Nathalie Faucheux
Frédéric Balg
Guillaume Grenier
A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study
Advances in Orthopedics
title A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study
title_full A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study
title_short A Longitudinal Low Dose μCT Analysis of Bone Healing in Mice: A Pilot Study
title_sort longitudinal low dose μct analysis of bone healing in mice a pilot study
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/791539
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