Unstained Analysis and Evaluation of Bone Quality Characteristics of Rat Femur Cross Section by AIRsightInfrared/Raman Microscope

User Benefits

- The distribution of hydroxyapatite and collagen can be confirmed without staining bone samples. - The optimum analysis technique for high-sensitivity detection of analysis target components can be selected from infrared and Raman spectroscopy. - The component ratio and degree of maturity of components related to bone quality characteristics can be evaluated by a detailed analysis of the infrared/Raman spectra.

Introduction

In prevention of osteoporosis, in addition to bone density, which simply indicates the mass of bone minerals per unit volume of bone tissue, the quality of the bone tissue (bone quality characteristics) is also considered important. Bone tissue consists mainly of hydroxyapatite, an inorganic mineral, and collagen, an organic substance. Bone quality characteristics are determined by evaluating properties such as the ratio of inorganic and organic components (mineral-to-matrix ratio) and the crystallinity of the hydroxyapatite (mineral maturity). Both micro-infrared spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy can measure the distribution of the chemical components of bone without staining the bone samples, and bone quality characteristics can also be acquired by a detailed spectral analysis. While both methods are based on vibrational spectroscopy, it can be said that micro-infrared spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy exist in a complementary relationship, as some types of information can only be obtained by one of these methods. For this article, an unstained analysis of a cross section of a rat thighbone (rat femur) was carried out using a Shimadzu AIRsight infrared/Raman microscope. Since AIRsight realizes both micro- infrared spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy in a single instrument, various components can be targeted for analysis if AIRsight is used. In addition, it is also possible to acquire bone quality characteristics information by selecting the more optimal analysis method.

January 30, 2024 GMT