Cylindrical bone samples with a diameter of 8 mm were harvested from different skeletal sites of 154 human donors in vitro: 87 from the distal radius, 59/69 from the thoracic/lumbar spine, 51 from the femoral neck, and 83 from the greater trochanter. 渭CT images were obtained with an isotropic spatial resolution of 26 渭m. BV / TV and trabecular microstructure parameters (TbN, TbTh, TbSp, scaling indices (< > and 蟽 of 伪 and 伪z), and Minkowski Functionals (Surface, Curvature, Euler)) were computed for each sample. The regression coefficient 尾 was determined for each skeletal site as the slope of a linear fit in the double-logarithmic representations of the correlations of BV / TV versus the respective microstructure parameter.
Statistically significant correlation coefficients ranging from r = 0.36 to r = 0.97 were observed for BV / TV versus microstructure parameters, except for Curvature and Euler. The regression coefficients 尾 were 0.19 to 0.23 (TbN), 0.21 to 0.30 (TbTh), 鈭?#xA0;0.28 to 鈭?#xA0;0.24 (TbSp), 0.58 to 0.71 (Surface) and 0.12 to 0.16 (<伪>), 0.07 to 0.11 (<伪z>), 鈭?#xA0;0.44 to 鈭?#xA0;0.30 (蟽(伪)), and 鈭?#xA0;0.39 to 鈭?#xA0;0.14 (蟽(伪z)) at the different skeletal sites. The 95% confidence intervals of 尾 overlapped for almost all microstructure parameters at the different skeletal sites. The scaling relations were independent of vertebral fracture status and similar for subjects aged 60-69, 70-79, and > 79 years.
In conclusion, the bone volume fraction-microstructure scaling relations showed a rather universal character.