Abstract

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), commonly referred to as Brittle Bone Disease, is a genetic disorder that results in increased bone fragility. There are many known variations, with four of them being the most common and each with a different level of severity. However, the exact causes of OI and their molecular and structural effects on bones are largely unknown. To investigate the relationship between nanoscale bone structure and disease severity, this research investigates OI by using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) to understand whether normal bone structure differs from OI-infected bones. Using this method, positrons are directed towards mice’s bones, forming positronium, which then gets trapped in the nanosized pores of the bones. Since positronium has a small chance to annihilate in the walls of those pores, its lifetime will be smaller than in a vacuum (142ns), depending on the pore size; this lifetime is then used to infer the pore sizes. A similar study has already been done on dehydrated bones; however, this study focuses on the deproteinated bones to further study the intercollagenous layer of the mice’s bones. This approach will provide new insights into the structural effects of OI.