title: Influence of enzymatic maceration on the microstructure and microhardness of compact bone.
abstract: The cleaning of fresh bones to remove their soft tissues while maintaining their structural integrity is a basic and essential part of bone studies. The primary issue is how the cleaning process influences bone microstructures and mechanical properties. We cleaned fresh lamb femurs using enzymatic maceration in comparison with water maceration at room temperature. The microstructures of these compact bones were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their porosities were quantified using image processing software. The bone microhardness was measured using a Vickers indentation tester for studying the mechanical properties. The results show that enzymatic maceration of compact bone resulted in a significant microhardness reduction in comparison with water maceration. However, enzymatic maceration did not cause any significant change of porosity in bone structures.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia. ling.yin@jcu.edu.au
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Sudharshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Venkatesan
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalyanasundaram
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005269:Femur / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006244:Hardness / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D016062:Porosity / Q000187:drug effects; D011309:Preservation, Biological / Q000379:methods; D012756:Sheep; D014357:Trypsin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014357:Trypsin