Bone Structure

Within the skeletal system the structure of a bone, or osseous tissue, can be exemplified in a long bone like the femur where there are two types of osseous tissue, cortical and cancellous.

Covering the cortical, or compact bone, is a membrane called the periosteum, which contains connective tissue, capillaries, and nerves. The neighboring outer solid layer found along the diaphysis, the shaft, forms a dense protective shell around the medullary canal, the cavity that stores yellow bone marrow, composed primarily of fat cells. This space is also covered in a thin lining, the endosteum, in which bone growth, remodeling, and repair occur.

Within the compact layer are osteons, structural units arranged in concentric rings called lamellae that contain osteoblasts, cells critical for bone formation and growth. These cells eventually mature into osteocytes in the hollow space, the lacuna.

Through the center of each osteon runs the Haversian canal, which contains more blood and lymphatic vessels as well as nerve fibers. Towards the rounded ends of the long bone, the epiphyses, is the second type of osseous tissue known as cancellous or spongy bone.

This inner layer is composed of a honeyc