An automatic method for bone histomorphometry: Assessment with reference to usual static and dynamic parameters

To perform a fast and reproducible analysis in bone histomorphometry, we developed an automatic method for calculating static and dynamic parameters. A color automatic image analyzer (SAMBA 200) was used to obtain the usual parameters of bone histomorphometry: bone volume (Cn-BV%TV), osteoid volume (Cn-OV%BV), and osteoid surface (Cn-OS%BS). A specialized algorithm was designed for calculation of the mineral apposition rate (MAR). Eroded surface (Cn-ES%BS) was read in a semiautomatic mode using a cursor. To validate this program, we input 30 samples from patients with bone disease (20 osteoporosis, 6 renal osteodystrophy, 2 osteomalacia, and 2 hyperparathyroidism) using manual and automatic modes. The results obtained showed a highly significant correlation with the usual manual method for all parameters: OS/BS, r = 0.93; OV/BV, r = 0.98; MAR, r = 0.90. With the automatic method, larger values were found for osteoid parameters and MAR and lower values for BV/TV. There were no statistical differences for OV/BV and MAR when compared to the reference manual method. This study establishes that automatic measurements of osteoid parameters and MAR can be performed by a fast analyzer with as good reproducibility and accuracy as the manual method.