title: X-ray phase nanotomography resolves the 3D human bone ultrastructure.
abstract: Bone strength and failure are increasingly thought to be due to ultrastructural properties, such as the morphology of the lacuno-canalicular network, the collagen fiber orientation and the mineralization on the nanoscale. However, these properties have not been studied in 3D so far. Here we report the investigation of the human bone ultrastructure with X-ray phase nanotomography, which now provides the required sensitivity, spatial resolution and field of view. The 3D organization of the lacuno-canalicular network is studied in detail over several cells in osteonal and interstitial tissue. Nanoscale density variations are revealed and show that the cement line separating these tissues is hypermineralized. Finally, we show that the collagen fibers are organized as a twisted plywood structure in 3D.
authors.affiliation: Creatis, Université de Lyon, CNRS UMR5220, Inserm U1044, INSA-Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France. max.langer@esrf.fr
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pacureanu
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suhonen
authors.forename: Quentin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Grimal
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cloetens
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peyrin
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D015233:Models, Statistical; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D016011:Normal Distribution; D010011:Osteocytes / Q000166:cytology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen