Table 1.

Comparison of ex vivo and in vivo histomorphometry.

	Pros	Cons
IVM	Allowing longitudinal tracking of dynamic cell behavior. Simultaneous acquisition of histology and morphometric parameters. Well established in imaging calvaria. Also allows short-term tracking (within a week) of long bones. Retrieving 3D information is relatively more straightforward.	Relying on genetic mouse models and/or multi- modalities to probe targets of interest. Access to deep tissue is limited by penetration depth of light.
Ex vivo	Generating good contrast of mineralized bone and osteoids by chromogenic staining. Well established in imaging both long bones and calvaria. Flexibility in exploring a wide range of cell targets by using immunohistochemistry.	Requiring separate cohorts of animals for longitudinal histological studies although some morphometric parameters can be analyzed by micro-CT. Relatively more time-consuming in sample preparation.