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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. Osteons are roughly cylindrical structures that are typically between 0.25 mm and 0.35 mm in diameter . [ 1 ]
The cell body varies in size from 5–20 micrometers in diameter and contain 40–60 cell processes per cell, [4] with a cell to cell distance between 20–30 micrometers. [3] A mature osteocyte contains a single nucleus that is located toward the vascular side and has one or two nucleoli and a membrane. [ 5 ]
A bone is a rigid organ [1] that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and enable mobility.
In an ordinary microscopic section, viewed by transmitted light, they appear as fusiform opaque spots. Each lacuna is occupied during life by a branched cell, termed an osteocyte, bone-cell or bone-corpuscle. Lacunae are connected to one another by small canals called canaliculi. A lacuna never contains more than one osteocyte.
However, in the process of bone formation, osteoblasts function in groups of connected cells. Individual cells cannot make bone. A group of organized osteoblasts together with the bone made by a unit of cells is usually called the osteon. Osteoblasts are specialized, terminally differentiated products of mesenchymal stem cells. [1]
Materials picked up by osteocytes adjacent to blood vessels are distributed throughout the bone matrix via the canaliculi. Diameter of canaliculi in human bone is approximately 200 to 900 nm. [ 1 ] In bovine tibia diameter of canaliculi was found to vary from 155 to 844 nm (average 426 nm). [ 2 ]
The periosteum is a membrane that covers the outer surface of all bones, [1] except at the articular surfaces (i.e. the parts within a joint space) of long bones. (At the joints of long bones the bone's outer surface is lined with "articular cartilage", a type of hyaline cartilage.)
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 .