New approach for static bone histomorphometry: confocal laser scanning microscopy of maxillo-facial normal bone

To define the value of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) as a practical method for a qualitative and quantitative analysis of hard tissue, the authors have analyzed normal maxillo-facial bone. They obtained and analyzed 58 bone samples from 28 patients who underwent to implant surgery. All the samples presented intense autofluorescence primarily ascribed to collagen. Variable degrees of autofluorescence have been identified between osteones and interosteonic bone. CLSM allowed improved tissue imaging, bidimensional pictures with better resolution at cellular level, and, in particular, the possibility of different histomorphometric evaluation. The application of CLSM to bone histomorphometry represents a new and never described technique, which might produce many insights in the study of normal and pathological bone.