The epiphyseal growth plate is a developmental region responsible for linear bone growth, in which chondrocytes undertake a tightly regulated series of biological processes. Concomitant with the cessation of growth and sexual maturation, the human growth plate undergoes progressive narrowing, and ultimately disappears. Despite the crucial role of this growth plate fusion "bridging" event, the precise mechanisms by which it is governed are complex and yet to be established. Progress is hindered by the current methods for growth plate visualization; these are invasive and largely rely on histological procedures. Here, we describe our non-invasive method utilizing synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography for the examination of growth plate bridging, which ultimately leads to its closure coincident with termination of further longitudinal bone growth. We then apply this method to a dataset obtained from a benchtop micro computed tomography scanner to highlight its potential for wide usage. Furthermore, we conduct finite element modeling at the micron-scale to reveal the effects of growth plate bridging on local tissue mechanics. Employment of these 3D analyses of growth plate bone bridging is likely to advance our understanding of the physiological mechanisms that control growth plate fusion.

中文翻译：

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一种用于了解骨Method生长板融合的计算机断层摄影方法。

骨s生长板是负责线性骨生长的发育区域，其中软骨细胞进行一系列严格调控的生物学过程。随着生长和性成熟的停止，人类生长板逐渐缩小，并最终消失。尽管此生长板融合“桥接”事件起着至关重要的作用，但控制它的确切机制仍然很复杂，尚待建立。当前的生长板可视化方法阻碍了进展。这些是侵入性的，并且在很大程度上取决于组织学程序。在这里，我们介绍了利用同步加速器X射线计算机断层摄影术检查生长板桥接的非侵入性方法，最终导致其闭合，同时进一步纵向骨生长终止。然后，我们将此方法应用于从台式微计算机断层扫描仪获得的数据集，以突出其广泛应用的潜力。此外，我们在微米尺度上进行有限元建模，以揭示生长板桥接对局部组织力学的影响。这些对生长板骨桥的3D分析的应用可能会增进我们对控制生长板融合的生理机制的了解。