Ceramic biomaterial pores stereology analysis by the use of microtomography

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to analyze microtomographic data to determine the geo-metric dimensions of a ceramic porous material’s internal structure. Samples of a porous corundum biomaterial were the research material. The samples were prepared by chemical foaming and were measured using an X-ray scanner. In the next stage, 3D images of the samples were generated and analyzed using Thermo Scientific Avizo software. The analysis enabled the isolation of individual pores. Then, the parameters characterizing the pore geometry and the porosity of the samples were calculated. The last part of the research consisted of verifying the developed method by compar-ing the obtained results with the parameters obtained from the microscopic examinations of the biomaterial. The comparison of the results confirmed the correctness of the developed method. The developed methodology can be used to analyze biomaterial samples to assess the geometric dimensions of biomaterial pores.