Page 190 - Demo

Chapter 7188The 14 animals were euthanized 9.5 months after implantation. A clinical evaluation was done and blood samples were taken before euthanasia. Xylazine (0.1 mg/kg) was administered for induction and heparin (300 IU/kg) was given to prevent coagulation. Induction was done using a combination of ketamine (4 mg/kg) and midazolam (0.2 mg/kg). The product administered to achieve euthanasia cannot be disclosed per agreement with the animal laboratory. After euthanasia, each ewe was decapitated, the skull was cut in half, and the right side was disposed of, except for three randomly selected sheep. In these sheep, specimens were kept for comparative analysis. Further decomposition of the left side of the skull was performed by skinning the specimen, removing the neurocranium, and removing the anterior half of the mandible and maxilla. The eye and upper half of the orbit were also removed. Specimens were fixed using immersion in formaldehyde (4%) for 2 months. A post-mortem CT-scan of each specimen was then performed (slice thickness 0.7 mm, 500 mAs, 120 kV, reconstruction thickness <1 mm; Revolution, General Electric, Fairfield, CT, USA). The images were analyzed using Agfa IMPAX 6, Agfa-Gevaert NV, Mortsel, Belgium) and were reconstructed into STL-files and 3D-renders using Mimics inPrint 3.0 (Materialise, Haasrode, Belgium). The goal of the imaging analysis was to determine the presence or absence of enthesis reconstruction.The peri-articular tissues were resected, stained using hematoxylin-eosin, and embedded in paraffin. The goal was to examine local adverse tissue reaction to the implant materials, infection, and wear-induced synovitis, which will be reported separately. The CT scan and 3D-reconstruction were used to determine where and how sections should be made through the lateral pterygoid muscle and its enthesis, and through the implant, to allow for histological analysis of the enthesis and its connection to the scaffold. Masson-Goldner (M-G) trichrome stain was used for the histology. (11)Nikolas de Meurechy NW.indd 188 05-06-2024 10:14