Primary lamellar bone

Figure 23 Mammalian bone at different levels of resolution (a) Collagen fibril with associated mineral, (b) Woven bone (random collagen distribution), (c) Lamellar bone showing separate lamellae with collagen organized in domains with preferred orientation alternating in adjacent lamellae, (d) Woven bone with blood channels shown as dark spots, woven bone stippled, (e) Primary lamellar bone orientation indicated by dashes, (f) Haversian bone, a collection of haversian systems are shown as a longitudinal structure. Each system has concentric lamellae around a central blood channel. Darkened area represents an empty (eroded) portion of the section which will be reconstituted with new bone, (g) Alternation of woven and lamellar bone, (h) Various orientations of heavily mineralized (cortical, or compact) bone, (i) Trabecular, or cancellous, bone (Wainwright et aL, 1976) (reproduced by permission of Hodder Arnold from Mechanical Design in Organisms, 1976).

Cortical bone, also called compact or lamellar bone, is remodelled from woven bone by means of vascular channels that invade the embryonic bone from its periosteal and endosteal surfaces. It forms the internal and external tables of flat bones and the external surfaces of long bones. The primary structural unit is an osteon, also known as a Haversian system, a cylindrical shaped lamellar bone surrounding longitudinally oriented vascular channels (the Haversian canals). Horizontally oriented canals (Volkmann canals) connect adjacent osteons. The mechanical strength of cortical bone results from the tight packing of the osteons. 

In the early stages of bone formation, the osteons dominate the bone structure to make an overall structure of fiber-matrix composite. While the primary bone has a dense structure, the secondary bone structure is this composite. As a result, the cortical bone structure becomes very complex. It is microscopically porous, has a lamellar structure, and is also a fiber-matrix composite. Size and packing of osteons and canals, and their orientation, determine the mechanical properties of these bones. 

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