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Scanning texture analysis of lamellar bone using microbeam synchrotron X-ray radiation

J. Appl. Cryst. (2007). 40, 115–120 [doi:10.1107/S0021889806044888]

[Bone lamelae]Scanning microbeam texture measurements in bone osteons (left) reveal 3D fiber orientations, with 1 μm resolution, inside single bone lamellae (right).
The fiber texture of compact bone tissue is adapted to its biomechanical function, but the precise architecture at the micron level is controversial. A synchrotron microbeam with 1 μm diameter was used for scanning texture measurements on thin bone sections. The spatial variation of 3D fibril orientation within single bone lamellar units revealed a chiral spiraling architecture of the tissue. The method can be applied to study fiber architectures in a variety of inhomogeneous tissues ranging from arthropod chitin to trabecular bone or artificial composites.
W. Wagermaier, H.S. Gupta, A. Gourrier, O. Paris, P. Roschger, M. Burghammer, C. Riekel and P. Fratzl
8 August 2008