A new quantitative approach for estimating bone cell connections from nano-CT images

Recent works highlighted the crucial role of the osteocyte system in bone fragility. The number of canaliculi of osteocyte lacuna (Lc.NCa) is an important parameter that reflects the functionality of bone tissue, but rarely reported due to the limitations of current microscopy techniques, and only assessed from 2D histology sections. Previously, we showed the Synchrotron Radiation nanotomography (SR-nanoCT) is a promising technique to image the 3D lacunar-canalicular network. Here we present, for the first time, an automatic method to quantify the connectivity of bone cells in 3D. After segmentation, our method first separates and labels each lacuna in the network. Then, by creating a bounding surface around lacuna, the Lc.NCa is calculated through estimating 3D topological parameters. The proposed method was successfully applied to a 3D SR-nanoCT image of cortical femoral bone. Statistical results on 165 lacunae are reported, showing a mean of 51, which is consistent with the literature.