Fig. 1.

Needle punch injury results in reproducible enthesis damage and improved healing in immature entheses. (A) Three-dimensional and (B) cross-sectional views from a representative sample analyzed using microCT to illustrate the enthesis injury (white arrows) in a mature enthesis. The color scale indicates mineral content (blue=low, red=high). Scale bars: 1 mm. (C) The scar volume was significantly larger in mature entheses 3 weeks post injury relative to that of the contralateral non-injured shoulder. No difference in soft tissue volume was observed in the immature enthesis group relative to contralateral controls. *P<0.05, two-tailed paired t-test, mean±s.d., n=9 per group.