Haversian canals

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Haversian canals
A light micrograph of a transverse section of human compact bone. X 250
Gray's	subject #18 89

Haversian canals (named after Clopton Havers) are a series of tubes around narrow channels formed by lamellae. This is the region of bone called compact bone. Osteons are arranged in parallel to the long axis of the bone. The Haversian canals surround blood vessels and nerve cells throughout the bone and communicate with osteocytes in lacunae (spaces within the dense bone matrix that contain the living bone cells) through canaliculi. This unique arrangement is conducive to mineral salt deposits and storage which gives bone tissue its strength.

[edit] See also

• Osteon

[edit] External links

• Haversian+canal at eMedicine Dictionary

v • d • e Musculoskeletal system, connective tissue: bone and cartilage Cartilage perichondrium, fibrocartilage callus, metaphysis cells (chondroblast, chondrocyte) types (hyaline, elastic, fibrous) Bone ossification (intramembranous, endochondral, epiphyseal plate) cycle (osteoblast, osteoid, osteocyte, osteoclast) types (cancellous, cortical) regions (epiphysis, metaphysis, diaphysis) structure (osteon/Haversian system, Haversian canals, Volkmann's canals, endosteum, periosteum, Sharpey's fibres, enthesis, lacunae, canaliculi, trabeculae, medullary cavity, bone marrow) shapes (long, short, flat, irregular, sesamoid)