3D Microtomography Characterization of Dental Implantology Bone Substitutes Used In Vivo

After a short introduction to bone substitute biomaterials and X-ray microtomography, this article describes a research work carried out for in-vitro characterization of bone substitute biomaterials as well as for in-vivo investigation of human bone grafted with biomaterials. Three different bone substitute biomaterials have been analyzed in-vitro by means of 3D microtomographic technique, while human bone samples grafted with bone substitute biomaterials are investigated by 3D microtomography and histological techniques. 3D images of bone substitutes and human bone samples with biomaterials have been obtained, together with morphometric parameters, by microtomography . 2D histological images have also been obtained by traditional technique only for human bone samples with biomaterials. Compared to traditional histological analysis, 3D microtomography shows better results for investigating bone tissue and bone substitute biomaterial, and in a short time. Nevertheless, histological analysis remains the best technique for the observation of soft tissue and blood vessels.