Micro-CT analysis showed that the subchondral bone and cartilage formation in the defect area of the OA group was less than that of the non-OA group. A: The reconstructed images showed the joint surfaces, the newly formed bone in OCD region (new bone) and 2D image of the distal femur OCD site (red: cartilage). B–C: The quantitative micro-CT data of bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume fraction (BV/TV) of the host bone. D–H: The quantitative micro-CT data of bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) and trabecular number (Tb.N) of newly formed bone. I: The X-ray attenuation value of the newly formed cartilage in OCD region. Data are shown as mean ± SD, N = 8. Paired t-test were used to evaluate differences between OA and non-OA groups. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01.