Fig. 3

Diagram of variations in bone parameters along the line from cartilage to spongy bone. Bone parameters of the selected volume of interests (Fig. 2) were measured using micro-computed tomography the scanner’s MicroView software. a Bone mineral density BMD; b tissue mineral density TMD; c bone mineral content BMC; d tissue mineral content TMC; e bone volume fraction BVF and porosity. The distance from the surface of cartilage to the subchondral plate below was about 2.3 mm