The effects of freezing, boiling and degreasing on the microstructure of bone

Abstract

The histology of bone has been a useful tool in research. It is commonly used to estimate the age of an individual at death, to assess if the bone is of human or non-human origin and in trauma analysis. Factors that affect the histology of bone include age, sex, population affinity and burning to name but a few. Other factors expected to affect bone histology are freezing, boiling and degreasing but very little information is available for freezing and the effect thereof, and it is unknown if boiling and degreasing affects bone histology. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of freezing, freezing and boiling, and freezing, boiling and degreasing on the histological structure of compact bone. Five cadaver tibiae were frozen at −20°C for 21 days followed by segments being boiled in water for three days and degreased in trichloroethylene at 82°C for three days. Anterior midshaft sections were prepared as ground sections and for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Quantitatively, there were no significant differences between freezing, boiling and degreasing; however, qualitative differences were observed using SEM. After being frozen the bone displayed cracks and after boiling the bones displayed erosion pits on the surface. It is suggested that further research, using different durations and temperatures for boiling and freezing be undertaken on bone samples representing different ages and various skeletal elements.