Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 29: Posters: Biopolymers \& Biomaterials
BP 29.7: Poster
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3
Volume imaging of collagen fibrils within human cortical bone — •Stephanie Röper1, Alexander M. Gigler2, Christian Riesch1, Anke Bernstein3, and Robert Magerle1 — 1Chemische Physik, Technische Universität Chemnitz, 09107 Chemnitz — 2CeNS und Dept. für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80333 München — 3Dept. für Orthopädie und Unfallchirugie, Muskulosketettales Forschungslabor, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg
Biological materials such as bone and teeth are nanocomposites of a soft organic matrix (mainly type I collagen) that is reinforced by a stiff inorganic component (hydroxylapatite). Nanotomography based on scanning probe microscopy is a serial reconstruction approach for high resolution volume imaging of these materials. A specimen cut from human cortical bone from the femur was first mechanically grinded and polished, then layer-by-layer ablated by etching with diluted solutions of formic acid and sodium hypochlorite, followed by flushing to stop the etching process, and imaged with tapping mode scanning force microscopy (SFM) after each etching step. The resulting series of SFM images show the arrangement of collagen fibrils with the typical periodic D-band pattern with 67 nm period. A high resolution volume image of the spatial arrangement of collagen fibrils within native cortical bone can be reconstructed by registration of neighboring slices. The interpretation of SFM data is supported by results obtained with confocal laser scanning Raman spectroscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.