Changes in Cartilage and Subchondral Bone in Mouse Femoral Condyles After Bone-Loading During Exercise

Loading bones during exercise has been shown to increase bone density in mouse tibiae and femurs. Particularly, the femoral condyle, the top of the knee joint, exhibits changes in cartilage and subchondral bone. To properly measure the femoral condyles and analyze the changes, it was necessary to dissect out femurs from mice and scan them using the microCT machine. From there, it was possible to develop a protocol to do the analysis of the bones by using NRecon Reconstruction software to reconstruct cross-section images of femoral condyles of the scanned femurs. Image reconstruction will allow for more accurate measurements and analysis of the cross-sections.