Precision of Digital Volume Correlation Approaches for Strain Analysis in Bone Imaged with Micro-Computed Tomography at Different Dimensional Levels

Dall’Ara, Enrico; Fernández, Marta Peña; Palanca, Marco; Giorgi, Mario; Cristofolini, Luca; Tozzi, Gianluca

doi:10.3389/fmats.2017.00031

Cited by 72 publications

(104 citation statements)

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“…The excluded TS23 sample was used to evaluate the uncertainties in the displacement predictions by registering two pairs of repeated scans of the whole prenatal femur and tibia following a procedure used for different bone structures [26, 27]. The precision of the method was evaluated for the three Cartesian directions using the standard deviation of the displacement components over the whole registration grid for tibia and femur.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal growth map of the mouse knee joint by mean of deformable registration technique

Giorgi

Sotiriou

Fanchini

et al. 2018

Preprint

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22 23 24 25 26 2 27Abstract 28 Joint morphogenesis is the process during which distinct and functional joint shapes emerge during pre-and 29 post-natal joint development. In this study, a repeatable semi-automatic protocol capable of providing a 3D 30 realistic developmental map of the prenatal mouse knee joint was designed by combining Optical Projection 31 Tomography imaging (OPT) and a deformable registration algorithm (Sheffield Image Registration toolkit, 32 ShIRT). Eleven left limbs of healthy murine embryos were scanned with OPT (voxel size: 14.63µm) at two 33 different stages of development: Theiler stage (TS) 23 (approximately 14.5 embryonic days) and 24 34 (approximately 15.5 embryonic days). One TS23 limb was used to evaluate the precision of the displacement 35 predictions for this specific case. The remaining limbs were then used to estimate Developmental Tibia and 36 Femur Maps. Acceptable uncertainties of the displacement predictions were found for both epiphyses 37 (between 0.7 and 1.4 µm, along all directions and anatomical sites) for nodal spacing of 1 voxel. The 38 protocol was found to be reproducible with maximum Modified Housdorff Distance differences equal to 1.9 39 µm and 1.5 µm for the tibial and femoral epiphyses respectively. The effect of the initial shape of the 40 rudiment affected the developmental maps by 21.7 µm and 21.9 µm for the tibial and femoral epiphyses 41 respectively, which correspond to 1.4 and 1.5 times the voxel size. To conclude, this study proposes a 42 repeatable semi-automatic protocol capable of providing mean 3D realistic developmental map of a 43 developing rudiment allowing researchers to study how growth and adaptation are directed by biological and 44 mechanobiological factors.3 46 Introduction 47 Growth and morphogenesis are two fundamental processes which every living system undergo during both 48 the prenatal and juvenile phase. If growth is more related to an increase in size and mass of an organism over 49 a period of time, morphogenesis is the biological process responsible for any organism to develop its shape. 50 Joint morphogenesis is the key process through which the two opposing cartilaginous rudiments of a joint 51 develop their reciprocal and fully functional shapes, and which starts during prenatal joint development. This 52 process is described in details by Pacifici et al., [1] and subsequently updated by Nowlan and Sharpe [2]. The 53 consequences of incomplete or abnormal joint morphogenesis can be very debilitating and may lead to 54 musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA) [3, 4]. The formation of a skeletal joint is a highly 55 regulated process which is controlled by several biochemical factors (e.g. growth factors, Hox genes) [5].56 Moreover, several studies have experimentally found a relationship between prenatal joint motion and 57 physiological joint morphogenesis in mice [6, 7] and chicks [8][9][10][11], demonstrating the importance of 58 mechanical loads in the morphogenic process. For example, 2D histological assessm...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal growth map of the mouse knee joint by mean of deformable registration technique

Giorgi

Sotiriou

Fanchini

et al. 2018

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…Since the first application of DVC, strain has been mapped in different bone types and scaffold implants. To approach tissue‐level strains, high‐resolution scans using synchrotron radiation should be taken to resolve textural details within the bone (Dall'Ara et al ., ). These studies have demonstrated the importance of ensuring that appropriate local texture is available for reliable subvolume tracking, and tuning DVC parameters to image texture.…”

Section: Tracking Microstructure To Map Local Strainmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, laboratory micro‐CT phase contrast approaches do not provide a large enough field of view to image the whole small animal organs at the required resolution. Synchrotron imaging has a larger field of view and has been shown to give lower tracking uncertainties for image correlation when compared to laboratory micro‐CT (Dall'Ara et al ., ). The considerably bright synchrotron X‐rays are able to obtain higher signal:noise reconstructions and shorter scans times.…”

Section: Outlook: Volumetric Strain Measurement In Soft Tissuementioning

confidence: 97%

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A review of techniques for visualising soft tissue microstructure deformation and quantifying strain Ex Vivo

Disney

Lee

Hoyland

et al. 2018

Journal of Microscopy

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Many biological tissues have a complex hierarchical structure allowing them to function under demanding physiological loading conditions. Structural changes caused by ageing or disease can lead to loss of mechanical function. Therefore, it is necessary to characterise tissue structure to understand normal tissue function and the progression of disease. Ideally intact native tissues should be imaged in 3D and under physiological loading conditions. The current published in situ imaging methodologies demonstrate a compromise between imaging limitations and maintaining the samples native mechanical function. This review gives an overview of in situ imaging techniques used to visualise microstructural deformation of soft tissue, including three case studies of different tissues (tendon, intervertebral disc and artery). Some of the imaging techniques restricted analysis to observational mechanics or discrete strain measurement from invasive markers. Full-field local surface strain measurement has been achieved using digital image correlation. Volumetric strain fields have successfully been quantified from in situ X-ray microtomography (micro-CT) studies of bone using digital volume correlation but not in soft tissue due to low X-ray transmission contrast. With the latest developments in micro-CT showing in-line phase contrast capability to resolve native soft tissue microstructure, there is potential for future soft tissue mechanics research where 3D local strain can be quantified. These methods will provide information on the local 3D micromechanical environment experienced by cells in healthy, aged and diseased tissues. It is hoped that future applications of in situ imaging techniques will impact positively on the design and testing of potential tissue replacements or regenerative therapies. LAY DESCRIPTION: The soft tissues in our bodies, such as tendons, intervertebral discs and arteries, have evolved to have complicated structures which deform and bear load during normal function. Small changes in these structures can occur with age and disease which then leads to loss of function. Therefore, it is important to image tissue microstructure in 3D and under functional conditions. This paper gives an overview of imaging techniques used to record the deformation of soft tissue microstructures. Commonly there are compromises between obtaining the best imaging result and retaining the samples native structure and function. For example, invasive markers and dissecting samples damages the tissues natural structure, and staining or clearing (making the tissue more transparent) can distort tissue structure. Structural deformation has been quantified from 2D imaging techniques (digital image correlation) to create surface strain maps which help identify local tissue mechanics. When extended to 3D (digital volume correlation), deformation measurement has been limited to bone samples using X-ray micro-CT. Recently it has been possible to image the 3D structure of soft tissue using X-ray micro-CT meaning that there is potentia...

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“…Measurement errors are typically quantified on repeated scans (i.e. in a known deformation field such as ‘zero‐strain’) to account for the intrinsic noise of the input images (Dall'Ara et al ., ; Dall'Ara et al ., ). This repeated scan methodology has been already adopted to quantify strain errors associated with bone‐biomaterial interfaces (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Optimization of digital volume correlation computation in SR‐microCT images of trabecular bone and bone‐biomaterial systems

Fernández

Barber

Blunn

et al. 2018

Journal of Microscopy

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A micromechanical characterization of biomaterials for bone tissue engineering is essential to understand the quality of the newly regenerated bone, enabling the improvement of tissue regeneration strategies. A combination of microcomputed tomography in conjunction with in situ mechanical testing and digital volume correlation (DVC) has become a powerful technique to investigate the internal deformation of bone structure at a range of dimensional scales. However, in order to obtain accurate three-dimensional strain measurement at tissue level, high-resolution images must be acquired, and displacement/strain measurement uncertainties evaluated. The aim of this study was to optimize imaging parameters, image postprocessing and DVC settings to enhance computation based on 'zero-strain' repeated high-resolution synchrotron microCT scans of trabecular bone and bone-biomaterial systems. Low exposures to SR X-ray radiation were required to minimize irradiation-induced tissue damage, resulting in the need of advanced three-dimensional filters on the reconstructed images to reduce DVC-measured strain errors. Furthermore, the computation of strain values only in the hard phase (i.e. bone, biomaterial) allowed the exclusion of large artefacts localized in the bone marrow. This study demonstrated the suitability of a local DVC approach based on synchrotron microCT images to investigate the micromechanics of trabecular bone and bone-biomaterial composites at tissue level with a standard deviation of the errors in the region of 100 microstrain after a thorough optimization of DVC computation. LAY DESCRIPTION: Understanding the quality of newly regenerated bone after implantation of novel biomaterials is essential to improve bone tissue engineering strategies and formulation of biomaterials. The relationship between microstructure and mechanics of bone has been previously addressed combining microcomputed tomography with in situ mechanical testing. The addition of an image-based experimental technique such as digital volume correlation (DVC) allows to characterize the deformation of materials in a three-dimensional manner. However, in order to obtain accurate information at the micro-scale, high-resolution images, obtained for example by using synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography, as well as optimization of the DVC computation are needed. This study presents the effect of different imaging parameters, image postprocessing and DVC settings for as accurate investigation of trabecular bone structure and bone-biomaterial interfaces. The results showed that when appropriate image postprocessing and DVC settings are used DVC computation results in very low strain errors. This is of vital importance for a correct understanding of the deformation in bone-biomaterial systems and the ability of such biomaterials in producing new bone comparable with the native tissue they are meant to replace.

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Precision of Digital Volume Correlation Approaches for Strain Analysis in Bone Imaged with Micro-Computed Tomography at Different Dimensional Levels

Cited by 72 publications

References 54 publications

Prenatal growth map of the mouse knee joint by mean of deformable registration technique

Prenatal growth map of the mouse knee joint by mean of deformable registration technique

A review of techniques for visualising soft tissue microstructure deformation and quantifying strain Ex Vivo

Optimization of digital volume correlation computation in SR‐microCT images of trabecular bone and bone‐biomaterial systems

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