Abstract
The mineral content of cancellous bone from sheep and pig vertebral bodies was determined by ashing at 800 °C. The results were compared with published results for human vertebral cancellous bone. The results for sheep (0.37 ± 0.06 g cm−3, mean ± standard deviation) were not significantly different (p = 0.127) to those from pigs (0.33 ± 0.03 g cm−3). The results from both species were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than those from human bones (0.15 ± 0.02 g cm−3). This means that cancellous bone from sheep and pig vertebral bodies is not a good model for corresponding human bone. However, sheep and pig bone are useful, for example, for providing stringent tests of cutting instruments to be used in human spinal surgery.
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