This image is from a cross section through the wall of the shaft of a decalcified long bone. Prior to embedding and sectioning the bone was decalcified. In such preparations the cells are preserved but some of the details of the matrix structure, such as canaliculi, are lost.
In lamellar bone the collagen fibers of the extracellular matrix are laid down in layers (lamellae) in which all of the collagen fibers are oriented in the same direction. Collagen fibers in adjacent layers are oriented in different directions.
The outer wall of the bone shaft is composed of outer circumferential lamellae, which completely circle the bone. The small "dots" seen in the bone wall are the nuclei of osteocytes located in lacunae. The short tubular structures are Volkmann's canals.
Stain = H&E
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| Copyright by: Paul B. Bell, Jr. & Barbara Safiejko-Mroczka |
The University of Oklahoma