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Diagram of a typical long bone showing both compact (cortical) and cancellous (spongy) bone. Osteons on cross-section of a bone. In osteology, the osteon or haversian system (/ h ə ˈ v ɜːr. ʒ ən /; named for Clopton Havers) is the fundamental functional unit of much compact bone.
Diagram of a typical long bone showing both cortical (compact) and cancellous (spongy) bone. Haversian canals [i] (sometimes canals of Havers, osteonic canals or central canals) are a series of microscopic tubes in the outermost region of bone called cortical bone. They allow blood vessels and nerves to travel through them to supply the osteocytes.
It facilitates bone's main functions—to support the whole body, to protect organs, to provide levers for movement, and to store and release chemical elements, mainly calcium. It consists of multiple microscopic columns, each called an osteon or Haversian system.
Bone canaliculi are microscopic canals between the lacunae of ossified bone.The radiating processes of the osteocytes (called filopodia) project into these canals. These cytoplasmic processes are joined together by gap junctions.
Volkmann's canals, also known as perforating holes or channels, are anatomic arrangements in cortical bones that allow blood vessels to enter the bones from periosteum.They interconnect the Haversian canals (running inside osteons) with each other and the periosteum.
A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification from cartilaginous molds, and the resistance and hardness of bones .
The outer surface of a bone is lined by a thin layer of connective tissue that is very similar in morphology and function to endosteum. It is called the periosteum, or the periosteal surface. During bone growth, the width of the bone increases as osteoblasts lay new bone tissue at the periosteum.
Most of the receptor activities that play an important role in bone function are present in the mature osteocyte. [6] Osteocytes are an important regulator of bone mass. [15] [16] Osteocytes contain glutamate transporters that produce nerve growth factors after bone fracture, evidence of a sensing and information transfer system. [6]