Faxitron mx 20 specimen radiography system

Bone mineral density (BMD) of femurs was measured with a Faxitron MX20 Specimen Radiography System (Faxitron X-ray Corp.,USA) and analyzed by Image J software. For trabecular micro-structure analysis, femurs were scanned with a micro-computed tomography scanner VivaCT80 (SCANCO Medical, Switzerland) at 15.6 μm voxel size, with 250 ms integration time, 55 kVp energy, and 145 μA intensity. A total of 100 slices from each sample were used to analyze the micro-architectures of trabeculae at the distal metaphyses, 78 μm from the growth plate. Three Dimensional (3D) images of trabeculae were acquired and the ratio of bone volume to tissue volume (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) were calculated.

Radiographic images of each limb and cranium were obtained by Faxitron MX-20 Specimen Radiography System (Faxitron X-ray Corp.) at an energy of 30 kV for 90 seconds with Eastman X-OMAT TL film (Eastman Kodak Co.) and processed by an automated X-ray film developer (Model M35A, Eastman Kodak Co.). Bone thickness was measured between the outer edges of cortical bone at the mid-diaphysis using ImageJ software (free from the NIH website).
Femurs from 20-weeks-old mice (n = 3 male mice/group) were scanned, using a SkyScan 1172 System (Bruker) with a source voltage and current of 65 kV and 153 μA, respectively. Following scanning, three-dimensional microstructural images were reconstructed using SkyScanNRecon software. SkyScan CT Analyzer software was used to calculate cortical micro-architectural parameters: cortical thickness (Ct.Th/mm), Total Area (TA/mm2), Bone Area (BA/mm2), and Medullary Area (MA/mm2).

Radiographic analyses were performed on femora and tibiae using Faxitron MX-20 Specimen Radiography System (Faxitron X-ray Corp., Wheeling, IL, USA) set at 24–25 kV for 6–8 s with Kodak MIN-R2000 18 × 24 films.
For micro-CT scanning, tibiae were placed within a plastic tube, mounted onto the instrument rotational stage and scanned at 8 μm voxel size using 80 kV, 50 μA X-ray settings and a 1 mm aluminum filter with exposure time of 100 ms per frame, with a Bruker SkyScan 1275 micro-CT (Micro Photonic, Allentown, PA, USA). Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed with Bruker’s NRecon software and visualization occurred using Bruker’s DataViewer and CTscan software programs.