Affiliations: [a] Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA | [b] Department of Orthopedics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA | [c] Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, Nutrition and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Erik L. Ritman, M.D., Ph.D., Department Physiology and Biophysics, Alfred Bldg., 2-409, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Tel.: +1 507 255 1939; Fax: +1 507 255 1935.
Abstract: We are exploring methods of quantitating the 3D microstructure of bone in a way that will provide quantitative information about the functional status of the bone. The basic strategy is to image the spatial distribution of a selected, local, marker of function (e.g., material properties or new bone formation) and relate this to the simultaneously imaged 3D anatomic microstructure. Many of these approaches are extensions of well-established 2D imaging techniques (e.g., use of fluorophores and autoradiography) to 3D micro-CT. Local stresses throughout the microstructure can be estimated from the 3D geometry (and change in that geometry in response to stress applied to the outside of the bones) and correlated to the local function. In addition to study of bone, we are also exploring calcification of arterial walls, both within the bone and outside the bone, such as coronary arteries. Arterial calcification in ovariectomised rats has been observed.
