2 PHASES OF THE BONE-MINERAL AS REVEALED BY THE HIGH-RESOLUTION SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPE ON ION-ETCHED BONE SURFACES AND AS SEEN ON SURFACES UNTREATED AND CHEMICALLY ETCHED

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 84  (4) , 385-400
Abstract
Recently reported uses of the technique of high resolution scanning electron microscopy [SEM] of polished and Ar ion-etched bone surfaces revealed that, at the ultrastructural level, the bone mineral is spatially arranged in a network of twisted, closely packed segments containing globular and cylindrical components. The ion-etching technique, which preferentially removes organic and less dense material from the bone surface, was subsequently used for detailed screening of a quantity of human cortical and trabecular bone of different age and maturity during which it was found that apart from this structured bone containing twisted segments, the mineral is also organized in another regular form, the lining bone, which has the appearance of solid, smooth and dense slabs or sheets lining active bone surfaces and bone cell lacunae and canaliculi. To determine if 2 newly described phases of the bone mineral microskeleton are results of an etching artifact, their SEM appearance in 14 Ar ion-etched human bone specimens from individuals aged 11 postnatal days to 79 yr was compared in various compartments to that seen on surfaces which were untreated, just polished or etched by hot NaOCl. The structured and lining bone are genuine features since, although the best results for their clear and reliable distinction were achieved by the ion-etching technique, these images could also be recognized in bone surfaces which were untreated or treated in a different way.