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Abstract #3950

Quantitative Imaging of Cortical Bone Using Ultrashort TE (UTE) Sequences

Jiang Du1, Won Bae1, Michael Carl2, Mark Bydder1, Atsushi M. Takahashi2, Reni Biswas1, Christine B. Chung1, Graeme M. Bydder1

1Radiology, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA; 2Global Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare Technologies, Menlo Park, CA, USA


Mineralized bone tissue has a significant water component of approximately 15-20% by volume. Quantification of bone water may be able to capture changes in porosity during aging and progression of osteoporosis, and provide a means of assessing response to treatment. However, bone appears as a signal void with all types of clinical MR sequences. Ultrashort TE (UTE) sequences with TEs down to 100 s or shorter permit direct imaging and quantification of bone. In this study we report a fast and efficient 2D UTE technique to quantify T1, T2* and bone water using a clinical 3T scanner.