COMPUTER-ASSISTED HISTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF TISSUE-ENGINEERED OVINE BONE

OBJECTIVE: To develop a computer-assisted histometric technique that q uantitatively determines the amount of regenerating bone, while exclud ing fibrovascular tissue and void spaces, in tissue-engineered bone co nstructs. To this end, a histometric technique was developed that coup les digital tiling with adaptive, multiband color thresholding (AMBCT) . STUDY DESIGN: To test the technique, it previously described model b one tissue-engineered construct filled with morcellized bone graft sun s employed. Histometric techniques were applied to quantify the amount of bone formed following eight weeks of implantation. RESULTS: The hi stometric technique was able to yield quantitative information regardi ng the amount of bone despite intrahistologic and interhistologic diff erences in staining. The technique is user-friendly and highly automat ed. In addition to area fractions, the technique can provide bone ingr owth profiles as a function of geometry and implantation time. CONCLUS ION: Digital tiling coupled with AMBCT offers an easy, fast and reprod ucible technique that aids in quantification of bone within histologic sections. In addition, the technique can be adapted to quantification of other tissues. Further studies are under way to investigate the po tential of correlating the histometric technique with mechanical stren gth analyses of tissue-engineered bone specimens.