New possibilities of studying a regenerated bone by radiography data

Purpose. To achieve the optimal clarity of visualization and obtaining quantitative data of the density and structure of the newly formed bone. Materials and methods. Digital processing of the leg X-rays at different stages of lengthening was made in 19 patients with achondroplasia and subjectively low height using a personal computer. The use of color contrasting served as an additional information attribute allowing to objectify the process of image interpretation owing to the fact that the human eye can distinguish more colors than the tones of any one and the same color displayed on the X-ray. Results. The zoned structure of the regenerated bone was clearly visualized on the X-rays during distraction and fixation, the height of the bone parts could be determined, as well as the height of radiolucency zone (a connective-tissue interlayer), and their qualitative parameters could be evaluated. It is practically impossible to identify the differences in the status of the distal and proximal regenerated bones, as well as their parts especially in the front X-ray view at the end of fixation period and after the fixator removal when the borders between its zones disappeared. After the X-ray processing using «Hi-scene» software the differences in the optical density of the proximal, central, and distal parts of the regenerated bone were revealed. Conclusion. The use of this technique allowed identifying the differences in the structure of different regenerated bone parts and those after the fixator dismounting when it was not always possible to visualize such differences by X-rays.