Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2013 Oct 22;13(4):801–812. doi: 10.1007/s10237-013-0535-7

Table 1.

Measurements and estimates of micro/nanoarchitecture of the lacunar–canalicular network (updated from Cardoso et al. 2013)

Reference Method Tissue Lacunar porosity (%)
Schneider et al. (2007) SR-μ CT Mouse (B6) femoral mid-diaphysis 1.3
Tommasini et al. (2012) SR-μ CT Rat femoral diaphysis 1.5
Palacio-Mancheno et al. (2013) μ CT Rat tibial cortical metaphysis 1.5 ± 0.44
Present study μ CT Human femoral diaphysis 1.69 ± 0.50

Reference Method Tissue Canalicular porosity (%)

Schneider et al. (2011) FIB/SEM Mouse (B6) femoral mid-diaphysis 0.70
Sharma et al. (2012) CLSM Rat tibial cortical metaphysis 14 (overestimated due to partial volume effects)
Present study μ CT Human femoral diaphysis 2.79 ± 0.91

Reference Method Tissue Lacuna per unit volume (#/mm3)

Hannah et al. (2010) SR-μ CT Human femur 40–90 (×103)
Tommasini et al. (2012) SR-μ CT Rat femoral diaphysis 56.5 (×103)
Sharma et al. (2012) CLSM Rat tibial cortical metaphysis 67.3 ± 14.0 (×103)
Carter et al. (2013) SR-μ CT Human femur 26–37 (×103)
Palacio-Mancheno et al. (2013) μ CT Rat tibial cortical metaphysis 68.8 ± 13.2 (×103)
Present study μ CT Human femoral diaphysis 36.85 ± 9.99 (×103)

Reference Method Tissue Lacunar volume (μ m3)

McCreadie et al. (2004) CLSM Human hip 455 ± 200
Hannah et al. (2010) SR-μ CT Human femur 290 ± 107
Sharma et al. (2012) CLSM Rat tibial cortical metaphysis 352 ± 30
Carter et al. (2013) SR-μ CT Human femur ~400

Reference Method Tissue Inter-lacuna separation (μ m)

Sugawara et al. (2005) CLSM Chick calvaria, E16 days old 24.1 ± 2.8
Hannah et al. (2010) SR-μ CT Human femur 21.9 ± 6.3
Sugawara et al. (2011) CLSM Chick calvaria, E16 days old 23.5 ± 6.1
Mouse calvaria (B6), E17 days old 39.6 ± 11.6
Sharma et al. (2012) CLSM Rat tibial cortical metaphysis 24.8 ± 1.7

Reference Method Tissue Canaliculi diameter (nm)

Marotti (1990) SEM Human tibia 150–550
You et al. (2004) TEM Mouse female 259 ± 129
Sugawara et al. (2005) CLSM Chick calvaria, E16 days old <500
Lin and Xu (2011) AFM Bovine tibia, transverse direction 426 ± 118
Bovine tibia, radial direction 459 ± 144
Bovine tibia, longitudinal direction 419 ± 113
Schneider et al. (2011) FIB/SEM Mouse (B6) femoral mid-diaphysis 95
Sharma et al. (2012) CLSM Rat tibia, cortical metaphysis trab. remnants 520 ± 42
Rat tibia, cortical metaphysis lamellar region 553 ± 33
Rat tibia, cancellous metaphysis 483 ± 24
SEM Rat tibia, cancellous metaphysis 335 ± 32
TEM Rat tibia, cancellous metaphysis 228 ± 11

Reference Method Tissue # canaliculi per lacuna

Sugawara et al. (2005) CLSM Chick calvaria, E16 days old 52.7 ± 5.7
Beno et al. (2006) Estimated from (Remaggi et al. 1998) light microscopy data Chick 54
Rabbit 60
Bovine 85
Horse 115
Dog 81
Human 41
Schneider et al. (2011) FIB/SEM Mouse (B6) femoral mid-diaphysis 78
Sugawara et al. (2011) CLSM Chick calvaria, E16 days old 52.7 ± 6.4
Mouse calvaria (B6), E17 days old 49.7 ± 9.7
Sharma et al. (2012) CLSM Rat tibia, primary canaliculi 83.9 ± 14
Rat tibia, secondary canaliculi 387 ± 34

μCT micro-computed tomography, CLSM confocal laser scanning microscopy, SR-μCT synchrotron radiation-based micro-CT, TEM transmission electron microscopy, AFM atomic force microscopy, FIB/SEM focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy