Investigating the Degree of Remodeling in the Medial and Lateral Distal Femur with Scanning Electron Microscopy
Poster Number
36
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Biology
Faculty Mentor
Julian Smith III, Ph.D., and Meir Barak, Ph.D., D.V.M.
Abstract
Bone remodels in response to stress, replacing damaged bone tissue with new secondary osteons. A secondary osteon can be seen using backscatter mode on a scanning electron microscope as a gray circular area with a black haversian canal in the center and a bright white cement line around the outer perimeter. BSE compo mode shows areas with higher mineralization as brighter and areas of lower mineralization as darker gray. Secondary osteons are recognizable by their cement lines and darker gray appearance, as they are less mineralized than primary bone. The number of secondary osteons per unit area of bone can indicate how much the bone has had to remodel. In a BSE compo image, the mean gray value excluding haversian canals for a given area may indicate how much remodeling has occurred, because the darker the average gray value, the more the image is composed of secondary osteons. Slices of bone from the medial and lateral sides of the femora were embedded in resin, polished and imaged on the SEM in BSE compo mode. The mean gray values were compared between the medial slices and the lateral slices, to determine whether one side had more remodeling than the other. The preliminary data from this experiment on slices from one femur suggested that there was no significant difference between the number of secondary osteons per unit area in the medial side and in the lateral side; thus, it could be concluded that neither side has had to remodel more in response to stress. However, more data from a greater sample size were collected in this experiment.
Course Assignment
BIOL 471 – Smith
Start Date
21-4-2017 2:15 PM
Investigating the Degree of Remodeling in the Medial and Lateral Distal Femur with Scanning Electron Microscopy
Richardson Ballroom
Bone remodels in response to stress, replacing damaged bone tissue with new secondary osteons. A secondary osteon can be seen using backscatter mode on a scanning electron microscope as a gray circular area with a black haversian canal in the center and a bright white cement line around the outer perimeter. BSE compo mode shows areas with higher mineralization as brighter and areas of lower mineralization as darker gray. Secondary osteons are recognizable by their cement lines and darker gray appearance, as they are less mineralized than primary bone. The number of secondary osteons per unit area of bone can indicate how much the bone has had to remodel. In a BSE compo image, the mean gray value excluding haversian canals for a given area may indicate how much remodeling has occurred, because the darker the average gray value, the more the image is composed of secondary osteons. Slices of bone from the medial and lateral sides of the femora were embedded in resin, polished and imaged on the SEM in BSE compo mode. The mean gray values were compared between the medial slices and the lateral slices, to determine whether one side had more remodeling than the other. The preliminary data from this experiment on slices from one femur suggested that there was no significant difference between the number of secondary osteons per unit area in the medial side and in the lateral side; thus, it could be concluded that neither side has had to remodel more in response to stress. However, more data from a greater sample size were collected in this experiment.
