Ivy Tech APHY 101 – Skeletal System Practice Test

The main idea is that osteocytes stay alive and communicate by a network of tiny channels called canaliculi, which extend from the spaces that house osteocytes (lacunae). As bone forms, osteoblasts embed in the matrix and send out cellular processes that thread through small tunnels, creating the lacuno-canalicular network. This network’s job is to enable nutrient delivery and waste removal by diffusion between osteocytes and nearby vessels, even when a cell is not right next to a blood supply. The central canal and osteon are separate features: the central canal contains blood vessels, and the osteon is the repeating unit of compact bone. So the term that best describes both the formation and function of canaliculi in this context is canaliculi formation and function.