Microcomputed tomographic analysis of the peri-implant bone.

A recently developed technology allows evaluation of bone biopsies with 3-D microcomputed tomography (microCT). The present study evaluated the feasibility of application of microCT to the analysis of peri-implant bone tissues. A human bone biopsy containing a titanium screw was analyzed using a microCT scan. The parameters computed by the microCT were bone volume, bone surface, trabecular thickness, trabecular separation, and bone connectivity. Also, the bone-to-implant apposition was measured, and all results were compared with those obtained with standard histomorphometry of the same biopsy. The results of the present study suggest that microCT enables 3-D nondestructive evaluation of bone biopsies containing endosseous titanium implants, also allowing analysis of the bone-implant interface. Measurements of bone-to-implant apposition obtained by microCT were similar to those obtained with standard undecalcified histology.