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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Fragility Assessment of Bovine Cortical Bone Using Scratch Tests
Published on: November 30, 2017
Fractal properties of bone
W G Geraets1, P F van der Stelt
1Department of Radiology, ACTA, Academic Centre for Dentistry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Objective:
To introduce the applications of fractal analysis of bone in medical imaging in general and dental radiographs in particular.
Results:
Various methods for measuring fractal dimension have been used to compare normal with osteoporotic bone with contradictory results. This disparity may be attributed to differences in the anatomical sites studied and differences in methods used to obtain the 2D images. However, differences in methods used to measure fractal dimension can also be responsible.
Conclusion:
When fractal dimension is used to study bone it must be remembered that all stages in the analytical chain have an impact on the results. Thus, to obtain more conclusive results, studies on the fractal dimension of bone should be carefully designed and individual methods thoroughly evaluated.
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