Staining Undecalcified Bone Sections a Modified Technique for an Improved Visualization of Synthetic Bone Substitutes

Abstract

We describe a detailed embedding procedure for large bone specimens in methyl methacrylate and a new staining method by which thin sections (appr 100 um) of undecalcified bones with synthetic implants can be coloured. Different staining effects were obtained which greatly facilitated the evaluation of sections with bone, new forming bone and especially remnants of synthetic implants. The identification and quantification of the latter is difficult in common staining techniques. A detailed embedding - staining - mounting procedure is proposed.