Image analysis of soft-tissue in-growth and attachment into highly porous alumina ceramic foam metals

The detailed quantitative characterization of soft-tissue in-growth into highly porous artificial implants is critical to understanding the biophysical processes that will lead to the best structural scaffolding construct. Previous studies have performed mechanical peel tests and mostly qualitative histological analyses of soft-tissue. The goal of this paper is to report the results obtained from applying two image analysis algorithms to quantify the morphological structure found in histological images of stained soft-tissue in-growth into alumina ceramic foam metal implants using a canine model. Three different pore sizes were used and three different post-operative time points were considered. Using the 2D Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima method and 2D Fourier Transform analysis, a strong anisotropic signature (directional preference) is detected in early (4-week) histological samples. The direction of preference is towards the center of the implants. The strength of the anisotropy at later time points (8 and 16 weeks) becomes gradually weaker. Our interpretation is that after a short period of time, the main tissue growth activity has been concentrated on filling the artificial implant by growing towards its center. The weaker anisotropic signature found at later time points is interpreted as the tissue growth activity strengthening its structure by growing in more random directions.