Preparation of Hard Tissue Specimens

1. Preparation of bone tissue specimens

To acquire various information from tissues and cells in bone, gross morphological examinations and histomorphometrical analysis are performed with bone tissue samples prepared. Tissues samples can be classified into two categories; decalcified specimen and non-decalcified specimen.

 

2. Bone Histomorphometry

Bone histomorphometry is one of the means to assess metabolic functions of bone. The follows are measured with non-decalcified thin sections.
1) Bone structure: cancellous tissue content, trabecular thickness, trabecular number, etc.
2) Bone formation: osteoid surface, osteoblast cell surface, bone calcification surface, rate of calcification, etc.
3) Bone resorption: the surface of bone resorption, osteoclast cell number, etc.