Trabecular Bone Morphological Analysis for Preclinical Osteoporosis Application Using Micro Computed Tomography Scanner

Trabecular bone morphological parameter (TMP) analysis with micro computed tomography (micro-CT) has been used to evaluate the risk of fracture of osteoporosis in small animals. Many researchers have pointed out the drawback of making decisions based on bone mineral density only due to the lack of morphological information. Our study describes the application of a laboratory micro-CT system and a self-designed TMP algorithm combined with two statistical methodological tools for the evaluation of the artificially induced animal model by the ovariectomy (OVX) surgery process. The results show that the percentage bone volume ( BV/TV ), the trabecular properties thickness ( Tb Th ), number ( Tb N ), and separation ( Tb Sp ) have significant differences between the normal and OVX groups. Tb Th and Tb Sp had very low p-values and are associated with bone loss caused by osteoporosis. The method can be used to early detect osteoporosis to prevent the risk of fracture in aging small animals.