Department of Engineering Sciences, Applied Materials Science, The Angström Laboratory, Uppsala University, PO Box 534, Uppsala 751 21, Sweden.
J R Soc Interface. 2010 Oct 6;7(51):1497-501. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2010.0213. Epub 2010 Jun 9.
A positive interaction between human bone tissue and synthetics is crucial for the success of bone-regenerative materials. A greater understanding of the mechanisms governing bone-bonding is often gained via visualization of the bone-implant interface. Interfaces to bone have long been imaged with light, X-rays and electrons. Most of these techniques, however, only provide low-resolution or two-dimensional information. With the advances in modern day transmission electron microscopy, including new hardware and increased software computational speeds, the high-resolution visualization and analysis of three-dimensional structures is possible via electron tomography. We report, for the first time, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the interface between human bone and a hydroxyapatite implant using Z-contrast electron tomography. Viewing this structure in three dimensions enabled us to observe the nanometre differences in the orientation of hydroxyapatite crystals precipitated on the implant surface in vivo versus those in the collagen matrix of bone. Insight into the morphology of biointerfaces is considerably enhanced with three-dimensional techniques. In this regard, electron tomography may revolutionize the approach to high-resolution biointerface characterization.
人体骨骼组织与合成材料之间的积极相互作用对于骨再生材料的成功至关重要。通过可视化骨-植入物界面，通常可以更好地了解控制骨结合的机制。长期以来，人们一直在使用光、X 射线和电子来对骨界面进行成像。然而，这些技术中的大多数只能提供低分辨率或二维信息。随着现代透射电子显微镜技术的进步，包括新的硬件和增加的软件计算速度，通过电子断层扫描可以实现对三维结构的高分辨率可视化和分析。我们首次使用 Z 衬度电子断层扫描报告了人体骨骼和羟基磷灰石植入物之间界面的三维重建。通过三维观察这个结构，我们能够观察到在体内沉淀在植入物表面的羟基磷灰石晶体与骨胶原基质中晶体的取向的纳米级差异。三维技术极大地增强了对生物界面形态的了解。在这方面，电子断层扫描可能会彻底改变高分辨率生物界面特性描述的方法。
