The effect of microcomputed tomography scanning and reconstruction voxel size on the accuracy of stereological measurements in human cancellous bone

D, Kim; Christopherson, Gregory T.; Dong, Xuesong; Fyhrie, David P.; Yeni, Yener N.

doi:10.1016/j.bone.2004.09.007

Cited by 103 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Hence, this result supports the suggestion of obtaining Conn.D from the HR-pQCT images at 82 μm (21). However, in the simulation study, the correlation with the reference value dramatically decreased with the relative resolution for some specimens (Figure 3d), in agreement with the previous studies (16,17). From these results, the resolution dependence of Conn.D may be affected by site dependent differences.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…In addition, the strong correlation with the reference value (r 2 ≥ 0.71) was also maintained except for murine tibiae (Figure 3f). The underlying mechanism is that isotropic resampling averages equally in all directions, thereby effectively leaving the ratio constant (16). While the DA of human distal tibiae obtained from the HR-pQCT images at the clinical in vivo resolution had an excellent correlation (r 2 = 0.93) in this study, MacNeil and Boyd (21) reported weaker correlation for human distal radii (r 2 = 0.67).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…By resampling, the noise is effectively reduced, resulting in under-representation of the impact of resolution on the non-metric indices than in in vivo imaging using HR-pQCT acquired at the same resolution (16) (Figure 5d). However, resampling facilitated accurate comparison between exactly matched volumes of interest (17).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resolution Dependence of the Non-metric Trabecular Structure Indices

Sode¹,

Burghardt²,

Nissenson³

et al. 2008

Bone

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Non-metric indices of topological features of trabecular bone structure, such as structure model index (SMI), connectivity density (Conn.D), and degree of anisotropy (DA), provide unique information relevant to bone quality. With recent technological advancement, in vivo assessment of these indices may be possible from images acquired using high-resolution imaging techniques such as highresolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT). However, more detailed investigation of the dependence of non-metric indices on spatial resolution is needed to determine their applicability.The purpose of this study was to determine whether these three non-metric indices are affected by the spatial resolution of CT images. First, the SMI, Conn.D, and DA were calculated for trabecular bone specimens with varying plate-like and rod-like structures from resampled μCT images across a range of spatial resolutions and compared to the reference values. To account for differences in size across different species and anatomical sites, the results are reported in normalized resolution units. Next, the impact of resolution on the non-metric indices for cores of human distal tibia trabecular bone from clinical HR-pQCT images was evaluated to determine the applicability of the non-metric indices to in vivo imaging.We found that the non-metric indices of trabecular bone structure were affected by spatial resolution of CT images. Particularly, the SMI deviated from the high-resolution μCT reference value depending on the structure type, whether plate-like or rod-like. Both Conn.D and DA were underestimated in the images obtained at an in vivo resolution. It is not trivial to determine absolute threshold for validity of these non-metric indices without considering a specific study design (e.g. relative resolution, the size of the treatment effect to detect, and specimen type). The results of this study provide an upper bound for the accuracy of the non-metric indices under limited resolution scenarios.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

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Resolution Dependence of the Non-metric Trabecular Structure Indices

Sode¹,

Burghardt²,

Nissenson³

et al. 2008

Bone

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…is problematic due to limitations associated with uniform thresholding, partial volume averaging, and voxel size (Kothari et al, 1998;Ding et al, 1999;Hara et al, 2002, Kim et al, 2004. For many biological investigations, and especially for clinical applications, researchers tend to be satisfied with high correlations between histological measures and those taken from CT images (Thomsen et al, 2004;Chappard et al, 2005), rather than accurate measures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, differences in mineralization within and between bones will result in different average CT values and uniform thresholding will thus lead to differential display of trabeculae and hence over-or underestimation of structures (Ding et al, 1999;Hara et al, 2002). Scanning parameters and voxel size (i.e., resolution), and their effects on partial volume averaging, similarly result in inaccurate measurements (Kothari et al, 1998;Banse et al, 2002;Hara et al, 2002;Kim et al, 2004). In an attempt to distinguish accurately between rods and plates, more complex algorithms have recently been developed (Stauber and Mü ller, 2006b), but these have not been adequately validated and the authors were content the results looked ''reasonable'' (p. 479) and were ''intuitively correct'' (p. 481).…”

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confidence: 99%

Automated method to measure trabecular thickness from microcomputed tomographic scans and its application

et al. 2006

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Trabeculae form the internal bony mesh work and provide strength to the bone; interconnectivity, overall density, and trabecular thickness are important measures of the integrity of the internal architecture. Such strength is achieved only gradually during ontogeny, whereby an increase in trabecular thickness precedes an increase in mineralization. Loss of bone mass later in life may be compensated for by thickening of the remaining trabeculae. These facts, and the role of trabeculae in mineral homeostasis, highlight the importance of investigating trabecular thickness within and between species. While nondestructive imaging techniques (i.e., mCT and MRI) are becoming increasingly popular, quantification of trabecular thickness using nondestructive techniques has proved difficult owing to limitations imposed by scanning parameters, uniform thresholding, and partial volume averaging. Here we present a computer application, which aims to overcome these problems. Validation is carried out against a phantom and against trabecular thickness measured in corresponding histological sections. Good agreement was found between these measurements. Furthermore, when trabecular thickness is recorded for modern human fetal ilia, a trend toward trabecular thickness increase is found and is in line with reports of ontogenetic morphometric changes using histological sections. However, there are discrepancies. These may in part be due to partial volume effects of obliquely oriented structures. More crucial, however, are problems inherent in histological sections, e.g., shrinkage and distortion, especially where differences in mineralization are concerned; this may affect biological interpretations. Anat Rec Part A, 288A: 982-988, 2006.2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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Technical note: Does scan resolution or downsampling impact the analysis of trabecular bone architecture?

Lukova,

Dunmore,

Tsegai

et al. 2024

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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The “gold standard” for the assessment of trabecular bone structure is high‐resolution micro‐CT. In this technical note, we test the influence of initial scan resolution and post hoc downsampling on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of trabecular bone in a Gorilla tibia. We analyzed trabecular morphology in the right distal tibia of one Gorilla gorilla individual to investigate the impact of variation in voxel size on measured trabecular variables. For each version of the micro‐CT volume, trabecular bone was segmented using the medical image analysis method. Holistic morphometric analysis was then used to analyze bone volume (BV/TV), anisotropy (DA), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), spacing (Tb.Sp), and number (Tb.N). Increasing voxel size during initial scanning was found to have a strong impact on DA and Tb.Th measures, while BV/TV, Tb.Sp, and Tb.N were found to be less sensitive to variations in initial scan resolution. All tested parameters were not substantially influenced by downsampling up to 90 μm resolution. Color maps of BV/TV and DA also retained their distribution up to 90 μm. This study is the first to examine the effect of variation in micro‐CT voxel size on the analysis of trabecular bone structure using whole epiphysis approaches. Our results indicate that microstructural variables may be measured for most trabecular parameters up to a voxel size of 90 μm for both scan and downsampled resolutions. Moreover, if only BV/TV, Tb.Sp or Tb.N is measured, even larger voxel sizes might be used without substantially affecting the results.

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The effect of microcomputed tomography scanning and reconstruction voxel size on the accuracy of stereological measurements in human cancellous bone

Cited by 103 publications

References 32 publications

Resolution Dependence of the Non-metric Trabecular Structure Indices

Resolution Dependence of the Non-metric Trabecular Structure Indices

Automated method to measure trabecular thickness from microcomputed tomographic scans and its application

Technical note: Does scan resolution or downsampling impact the analysis of trabecular bone architecture?

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