Bone is a dynamic tissue that constantly undergoes modeling and remodeling. Bone tissue engineering relying on the development of novel implant scaffolds for the treatment of pre-clinical bone defects has been extensively evaluated by histological techniques. The study of bone remodeling, that takes place over several weeks, is limited by the requirement of a large number of animals and time-consuming and labor-intensive procedures. X-ray-based imaging methods that can non-invasively detect the newly formed bone tissue have therefore been extensively applied in pre-clinical research and in clinical practice. The use of other imaging techniques at a pre-clinical level that act as supportive tools is convenient. This review mainly focuses on nuclear imaging methods (single photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography), either alone or used in combination with computed tomography. It addresses their application to small animal models with bone defects, both untreated and filled with substitute materials, to boost the knowledge on bone regenerative processes.

中文翻译：

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用于骨组织工程的体内成像技术。

骨骼是不断进行建模和重塑的动态组织。依靠组织学技术对依赖于新型植入物支架的开发来治疗临床前骨缺损的骨组织工程进行了广泛的评估。骨骼重塑的研究历时数周，受到大量动物和费时费力的程序的限制。因此，可以无创地检测新形成的骨组织的基于X射线的成像方法已广泛应用于临床前研究和临床实践。在临床前使用其他成像技术作为辅助工具很方便。本文主要关注核成像方法（单光子发射计算机断层扫描和正电子发射断层扫描），可以单独使用，也可以与计算机断层扫描结合使用。它解决了它们在具有骨骼缺陷的小型动物模型中的应用，这些模型既未经处理又填充有替代材料，以增强有关骨骼再生过程的知识。