Two-dimensional in vivo optical images of metacarpal bones of a human palm and in vitro images of turkey and chicken bones embedded in tissues were obtained in the nearinfrared region using femtosecond pulse transillumination and picosecond electronic time-sliced detection technique. A small hole drilled in chicken bone and embedded in chicken breast tissue was imaged using early arriving light. Time-gated fluorescence images of an interior marrow region of a bone injected with a fluorescent

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... th a fluorescent dye were recorded. The techniques have potential for monitoring bone fracture, bone diseases such as, osteoporosis and arthritis, and diseases that originate in or affect bone marrow.