TY - JOUR
T1 - Recent advancements in the analysis of bone microstructure
T2 - New dimensions in forensic anthropology
AU - Andronowski, Janna M.
AU - Crowder, Christian
AU - Soto Martinez, Miriam
N1 - Funding Information:
Certain research described in this paper was performed at the BioMedical Imaging and Therapy (BMIT) facility at the Canadian Light Source, which is supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the University of Saskatchewan, the Government of Saskatchewan, Western Economic Diversification Canada, the National Research Council Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We are grateful to the BMIT beamline user support staff, Drs George Belev, Adam Webb, Ning Zhu, Denise Miller, and Tomasz Wysokinski. The authors would further like to acknowledge the Children’s Justice Act Program-Texas Center for the Judiciary who provided funding for research reported in this review.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Academy of Forensic Science.
PY - 2018/10/2
Y1 - 2018/10/2
N2 - Bone is a mechanically active, three-dimensionally (3D) complex, and dynamic tissue that changes in structure over the human lifespan. Bone tissue exists and remodels in 3D and changes over time, introducing a fourth dimension. The products of the remodelling process, secondary and fragmentary osteons, have been studied substantially using traditional two-dimensional (2D) techniques. As a result, much has been learned regarding the biological information encrypted in the histomorphology of bone, yielding a wealth of information relating to skeletal structure and function. Three-dimensional imaging modalities, however, hold the potential to provide a much more comprehensive understanding of bone microarchitecture. The visualization and analysis of bone using high-resolution 3D imaging will improve current understandings of bone biology and have numerous applications in both biological anthropology and biomedicine. Through recent technological advancements, we can hone current anthropological applications of the analysis of bone microstructure and accelerate research into the third and fourth dimensional realms. This review will explore the methodological approaches used historically by anthropologists to assess cortical bone microstructure, spanning from histology to current ex vivo imaging modalities, discuss the growing capabilities of in vivo imaging, and conclude with an introduction of novel non-histological modalities for investigating bone quality.
AB - Bone is a mechanically active, three-dimensionally (3D) complex, and dynamic tissue that changes in structure over the human lifespan. Bone tissue exists and remodels in 3D and changes over time, introducing a fourth dimension. The products of the remodelling process, secondary and fragmentary osteons, have been studied substantially using traditional two-dimensional (2D) techniques. As a result, much has been learned regarding the biological information encrypted in the histomorphology of bone, yielding a wealth of information relating to skeletal structure and function. Three-dimensional imaging modalities, however, hold the potential to provide a much more comprehensive understanding of bone microarchitecture. The visualization and analysis of bone using high-resolution 3D imaging will improve current understandings of bone biology and have numerous applications in both biological anthropology and biomedicine. Through recent technological advancements, we can hone current anthropological applications of the analysis of bone microstructure and accelerate research into the third and fourth dimensional realms. This review will explore the methodological approaches used historically by anthropologists to assess cortical bone microstructure, spanning from histology to current ex vivo imaging modalities, discuss the growing capabilities of in vivo imaging, and conclude with an introduction of novel non-histological modalities for investigating bone quality.
KW - Forensic science
KW - bone quality
KW - cortical bone
KW - ex vivo
KW - forensic anthropology
KW - histological age estimation
KW - in vivo
KW - micro-CT
KW - synchrotron
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U2 - 10.1080/20961790.2018.1483294
DO - 10.1080/20961790.2018.1483294
M3 - Article
C2 - 30788447
AN - SCOPUS:85061988786
SN - 2096-1790
VL - 3
SP - 278
EP - 293
JO - Forensic Sciences Research
JF - Forensic Sciences Research
IS - 4
ER -