Bone matrix imaged in vivo by water- and fat-suppressed proton projection MRI (WASPI) of animal and human subjects.
OBJECTIVE
To demonstrate water- and fat-suppressed proton projection MRI (WASPI) in a clinical scanner to visualize the solid bone matrix in animal and human subjects.


METHODS
Pig bone specimens and polymer pellets were used to optimize the WASPI method in terms of soft-tissue suppression, image resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and scan time on a 3T MRI scanner. The ankles of healthy 2-3-month-old live Yorkshire pigs were scanned with the optimized method. The method was also applied to the wrists of six healthy adult human volunteers to demonstrate the feasibility of the WASPI method in human subjects. A transmit/receive coil built with proton-free materials was utilized to produce a strong B(1) field. A fast transmit/receive switch was developed to reduce the long receiver dead time that would otherwise obscure the signals.


RESULTS
Clear 3D WASPI images of pig ankles and human wrists, showing only the solid bone matrix and other tissues with high solid content (eg, tendons), with a spatial resolution of 2.0 mm in all three dimensions were obtained in as briefly as 12 minutes.


CONCLUSIONS
WASPI of the solid matrix of bone in humans and animals in vivo is feasible.
Wu
Yaotang
Y
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. yaotang.wu@childrens.harvard.edu
Hrovat
Mirko I
MI
Ackerman
Jerome L
JL
Reese
Timothy G
TG
Cao
Haihui
H
Ecklund
Kirsten
K
Glimcher
Melvin J
MJ
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011522:Protons; D013552:Swine; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014953:Wrist / Q000473:pathology
D011522:Protons; D014867:Water