Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026
Software-Assisted Quantitative Measurement of Osteoarthritic Subchondral Bone Thickness
Published on: March 18, 2022
Quantitative X-ray microradiography for high-throughput phenotyping of osteoarthritis in mice
J A Waung1, S A Maynard1, S Gopal1
1Molecular Endocrinology Group, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, UK.
Objective:
To investigate and validate digital X-ray microradiography as a novel, high-throughput and cost-effective screening approach to identify abnormal joint phenotypes in mice.
Method:
Digital X-ray microradiography was used to quantify the subchondral bone mineral content (BMC) in the medial tibial plateau. Accuracy and reproducibility of the method were determined in 22 samples from C57BL/6(B6Brd;B6Dnk;B6N-Tyr(c-Brd)) wild-type mice. The method was then validated in wild-type mice that had undergone surgical destabilisation of medial meniscus (DMM) and in a genetically modified mouse strain with an established increase in trabecular bone mass.
Results:
The measurement of subchondral BMC by digital X-ray microradiography had a coefficient of variation of 3.6%. Digital X-ray microradiography was able to demonstrate significantly increased subchondral BMC in the medial tibial plateau of male mice 4 and 8 weeks after DMM surgery and in female mice 8 weeks after surgery. Furthermore, digital X-ray microradiography also detected the increase in subchondral BMC in a genetically modified mouse strain with high trabecular bone mass.
Conclusion:
Quantitation of subchondral BMC by digital X-ray microradiography is a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method to identify abnormal joint phenotypes in mice of both genders at several ages.
