Feasibility of Assessing Trabecular Structure using a Standard Clinical MRI Scanner

Christie McComb¹, Christopher Leddy², John Foster¹, Gillian Anderson², S. Faisal Ahmed²

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of acquiring high resolution (micro) MRI images of the proximal tibia using routinely available coils and pulse sequences, and to determine whether this could be used to assess trabecular bone structure. Images were obtained from healthy volunteers and volunteers with Osteogenesis Imperfecta using a 3T Siemens Verio MRI scanner with a Tx/Rx extremity coil. Four key bone parameters were quantified from the images using in-house analysis software developed using IDL. The results showed that the clinical MRI facilities in our institution can successfully be used to discriminate between healthy and diseased states of trabecular bone.