High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of trabecular bone in the wrist at 3 tesla: initial results.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of trabecular bone of the wrist at 3 Tesla (3T) in vivo and to assess the potential benefit of the increased resolution for clinical assessment of structural changes in spongy bone.


METHODS
High-resolution MRI of the wrist was performed with a whole-body 3T MR scanner using a dedicated circularly polarized transmit-receive wrist-coil. Two 3D-FISP sequences with a spatial resolution of 300 x 300 x 300 microm3 in a measuring time of TA = 7:51 min, and 200 x 200 x 200 microm3 in TA = 9:33 min were applied. Seven young healthy volunteers and three elderly subjects with suspected osteoporosis were examined. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the optimized setup at 3T was compared to measurements at 1.5T.


RESULTS
The images at 3T allow microscopic analysis of the bone structure at an isotropic spatial resolution of 200 microm in examination times of <10 min. Differences in the structure of the spongy bone between normal and markedly osteoporotic subjects are well depicted. The SNR at 3T was found up to 16 times higher than at 1.5T applying unchanged imaging parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
The proposed high-resolution MRI technique offers high potential in the diagnosis and follow-up of diseases with impaired bone structure of hand and/or wrist in clinical applications.
University Clinic Tuebingen, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Section on Experimental Radiology, Tübingen, Germany. burkhard.ludescher@med.uni-tuebingen.de
B
B
Ludescher
P
P
Martirosian
S
S
Lenk
J
J
Machann
F
F
Dammann
F
F
Schick
C
C
Claussen
H
H
Schlemmer
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008280:Magnetics; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012016:Reference Values; D014953:Wrist / Q000473:pathology*