Fig. 4

Imaging data results at three time points in each group. Imaging analysis of bone formation among the three groups: A Bone mineral density: At each time point, bone mineral density was measured three times near and far from the defect for each sample to calculate the mean value in the selected area. B New bone volume: the volume of new bone in the selected area. The selected area (ROI) was 16 mm long and 5 mm wide, including 10 mm at the bone defect and 3 mm near and far. Statistical differences between the three groups are shown (one-way ANOVA followed by LSD test for post hoc comparisons,*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01)