Wound healing in the bone chamber 1. Neoosteogenesis during transition from the repair to the regenerative phase in the rabbit tibial cortex

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Abstract
The optical bone chamber technique that includes intravital microscopy is described and is then applied to measuring primary wound healing neoostogenesis in rabbit tibia cortical bone during the period when fibrovascular tissue is being replaced by regenerating osteovascular tissue. The small population of rabbits sampled allowed only tentative conclusions. The quantitative measurements, a direct form of histomorphometry, are applied to determine the consistency of observations, with the hypothesis that healing into the bone chamber slit-gap follows the pattern of primary bone regeneration established as “characteristic” by other studies. The results supported the hypothesis and showed that bony ingrowth started during the third postoperative-week (W3) with a maximum linear growth rate of 85.5 μm/day for a bone front. Evidence for remodeling by W6 was also obtained. While the bone chamber environment for tissue ingrowth is artificial, it can generate quantitative data that may provide a statistically valid basis for modeling pathophysiologic processes associated with bone wound healing.