title: Bone volume-to-total volume ratio measured in trabecular bone by single-sided NMR devices.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reduced bone strength is associated with a loss of bone mass, usually evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, although it is known that the bone microstructure also affects the bone strength. Here, a method is proposed to measure (in laboratory) the bone volume-to-total volume ratio by single-sided NMR scanners, which is related to the microstructure of the trabecular bone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three single-sided scanners were used on animal bone samples. These low-field, mobile, low-cost devices are able to detect the NMR signal, regardless of the sample sizes, without the use of ionizing radiations, with the further advantage of signal localization offered by their intrinsic magnetic field gradients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The performance of the different single-sided scanners have been discussed. The results have been compared with bone volume-to-total volume ratio by micro CT and MRI, obtaining consistent values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate the feasibility of the method for laboratory analyses, which are useful for measurements like porosity on bone specimens. This can be considered as the first step to develop an NMR method based on the use of a mobile single-sided device, for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, through the acquisition of the signal from the appendicular skeleton, allowing for low-cost, wide screening campaigns. Magn Reson Med 79:501-510, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.|Centro Fermi - Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche "Enrico Fermi", Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brizi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.affiliation: IRCCS, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baruffaldi
authors.affiliation: Department DICAM, University of Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Villiam
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bortolotti
authors.affiliation: IRCCS, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fersini
authors.affiliation: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Huabing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nogueira d'Eurydice
authors.affiliation: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Obruchkov
authors.affiliation: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Fangrong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zong
authors.affiliation: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Petrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galvosas
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.|Centro Fermi - Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche "Enrico Fermi", Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fantazzini
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000818:Animals; D015519:Bone Density; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002138:Calibration; D000071556:Cancellous Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008833:Microcirculation; D016062:Porosity; D013552:Swine; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
keywords: BV/TV; osteoporosis; portable NMR; screening campaigns; single-sided NMR