Roentgen stereophotogrammetry for determination of daily longitudinal bone growth in the rabbit

The spatial location of points in an object can be determined by roentgen stereophotogrammetry. A technique of high accuracy was applied in a determination of the daily skeletal growth of young rabbits. The tibia was labelled with tantalum markers on each side of the growth zones, and the increasing distance between these markers due to longitudinal bone growth was measured. Three different types of markers were tested, and the methodologic error was estimated. It varied between 30 and 43 micrometer for one growth interval, depending on the type of marker used. The method has clinical implications currently under investigation.