This study evaluated the structure and quality of osteoporotic vertebral bone. To induce osteoporosis, eight rats were ovariectomized (OVX). All rats were divided into two groups (Normal group: 4, OVX group: 4). Total lumbar vertebrae for each rat were scanned by in-vivo μCT at 0, 4 and 8 weeks. Morphological characteristics (BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.N, Tb.Sp and SMI) were calculated by in-vivo μCT image analyzer. Three dimensional finite element models were analyzed to investigate bone strength of OVX and Normal groups. Moreover, the elastic modulus was quantitatively analyzed to evaluate the quality changes of osteoporotic bone. In the OVX group, BV/TV, Tb.Th and Tb.N were significantly decreased at all the lumbar over time (p＜0.05). We also investigated a contrary tendency in Tb.Sp and SMI, compared to the above results in each group. A degree of alteration of mechanical characteristics in OVX group was decreased over measuring time (p＜0.05). Bone quality presented by distribution of elastic modulus was improved in the Normal group more than OVX group. The findings of the present study indicated that both bone structure and quality of whole lumbar could be tracked and detected by analyzing the morphological and biomechanical characteristics of bones, based on a nondestructive method.
