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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Author Spotlight: Advanced Techniques for Characterizing Tissue Mineralization in Bone Regeneration Research
Published on: September 27, 2024
Studying variations in bone composition at nano-scale resolution: a preliminary report
Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud1, Curtis Marcott, Qichi Hu
1TRI Princeton, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Abstract:
Bone has a hierarchical structure extending from the micrometer to the nanometer scale. We report here the first analysis of non-human primate osteonal bone obtained using a spectrometer coupled to an AFM microscope (AFM-IR), with a resolution of 50-100 nm. Average spectra correspond to those observed with conventional FTIR spectroscopy. The following validated FTIR parameters were calculated based on intensities observed in scans covering ~60 µm from the osteon center: mineral content (1030/1660 cm(-1)), crystallinity (1030/1020 cm(-1)), collagen maturity (1660/1690 cm(-1)), and acid phosphate content (1128/1096 cm(-1)). A repeating pattern was found in most of these calculated IR parameters corresponding to the reported inter- and intra-lamellar spacing in human bone, indicating that AFM-IR measurements will be able to provide novel compositional information on the variation in bone at the nanometer level.
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