Methods to quantify trabecular orientation are crucial in
order to assess the exact trajectory of trabeculae in
anatomical and histological sections. Specific methods for
evaluating trabecular orientation include the ‘point
counting’ technique (Whitehouse, 1974), manual tracing of
trabecular outlines on a digitising board (Whitehouse,
1980), textural analysis (Veenland et al. 1998), graphic
representation of vectors (Shimizu et al. 1993; Kamibayashi
et al. 1995) and both mathematical (Geraets, 1998) and
fractal analysis (Millard et al. 1998). Optical and computer-assisted methods to detect trabecular orientation of bone
using the Fourier transform were introduced by Oxnard
(1982) later refined by Kuo & Carter (1991) (see also
Oxnard, 1993, for a review), in the analysis of planar
sections of vertebral bodies as well as in planar radiographs
of cancellous bone in the distal radius (Wigderowitz et al.
1997). At present no studies have applied this technique to
2-D images or to the study of dried bones. We report a
universal computer-automated technique for assessing the
preferential orientation of the tibial subarticular trabeculae
based on Fourier analysis, emphasis being placed on the
search for improvements in accuracy over previous methods
and applied to large stereoscopic (2-D) fields of anatomical
sections of dried human tibiae. Previous studies on the
trajectorial architecture of the tibial epiphysis (Takechi,
1977; Maquet, 1984) and research data about trabecular
orientation (Kamibayashi et al. 1995) have not employed
Fourier analysis.