Micro-Computed Tomography (Micro-CT)
Micro-CT (QuantumGX, PerkinElmer, United States) was conducted on the
hind paw to scan the microstructure of the joint and parameters were
analyzed precisely at the same region of distal tibia. Specimen scanner
settings were designed as follows: exposure time 14 min at 90 KV and 88
mA with a resolution of 2 μm and field-of-view 12.8 mm× 12.8 mm. The
parameters of trabecular bone, including bone volume to bone volume
fraction (BV/TV, %), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th, μm), trabecular bone
mineral density (tb.BMD, g/cm3), trabecular number (Tb.N, mm/1),
trabecular separation (Tb.Sp, mm) were exported for reconstruction using
the manufacturer’s software, Caliper Analyze.