Combination of 3D MRI and connectivity analysis in structural evaluation of cancellous bone in rat proximal femur

Three dimensional (3-D) magnetic resonance (MR) microimaging combined with connectivity analysis was tested in the study of the structure of cancellou s bone. MR microimaging was performed in vitro with an average resolution o f 20*20*35 mum. A 3-D connectivity analysis was used to model the trabecula r bone as a network consisting of nodes and struts. Size distribution curve s of these two structural elements and the interconnectivity of nodes was u sed to estimate the cancellous structure. The analysis suggested the occurr ence of two simultaneous network structures in cancellous bone differed by the size of details. The degradative effect of ostcopenia is found to be sl ightly different in these two subsystems. Interconnectivity is seen to incr ease with the size of a node and the expected loss of connectivity due to o stcopenia is observed. The method described offers a new way in the topolog ical estimation of interconnected medium. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishe rs.