Bones are made up of 25% water and 75% solids which consists of cells and mineral salts (calcium and phosphorous)
Bone Tissue
Bone tissue is a hard dense connective tissue. It has a honeycomb type matrix internally which helps to give the bone rigidity. There are two types of bone tissue, cortical bone and cancellous bone. Bone cells develop new bone tissue and continual bone remodelling, maintaining the bones and regulation of minerals in the body. Types of bone cells include osteoclasts. Osteoclasts break down tissue. Osteoblasts that build new tissue, and osteocytes which hold the bone together. The lining cells protect the bone.
Cancellous Bone
Cancellous Bone is spongy and has a higher surface area to mass ratio than cortical bone because
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The bone matrix is organised in to a three dimensional latticework of bony processes called trabeculae and are arranged along stress lines.
Cancellous bones provide structural support and flexibility without the weight of a compact bone
Cancellous tissue is highly vascular and frequently contains red bone marrow where the production of red blood cells occur , this is known as haematopoiesis. Cancellous bone can develop into compact bone through the action of bone forming cells, the osteoblasts. The osteoblasts deposit new bone matrix in layers around the trabeculae which enlarge at the expense of spaces between them. Eventually the spaces are eliminated and immature compact bone is produced.
Compact bone
Compact bone or Cortical Bone as it is also known, is biologically identical to cancellous bone, the difference is in how the microstructure is arranged. It is a dense bone where the bony matrix is solidly filled with organic ground substance and inorganic salts leaving only tiny spaces that contain the osteocytes (bone cells).
Cortical bone forms the extremely hard exterior of bones, it forms a shell around cancellous bone and is the primary component of the long bones of the arm, leg and other bones where its