Human Femur Polarized

Human midshaft thighbone of bone in a 28-year-old woman.

This image across an entire section through the thighbone is actually made up of over 250 circularly polarized light microscope images that have been automatically montaged together to form a single high-resolution view. This image provides information about the degree of orientation of the collagen fibers within the bone, which in turn can tell us about the ability of the tissue to resist different kinds of mechanical stresses encountered in everyday life. Comparing the organization of bone tissue between individuals of different ages and sexes can help us to understand more about how bone structure varies over the lifespan - important information for the understanding of the prevalence of bone diseases, like osteoporosis.