City Research Online

Abstract

Osteoporosis is the commonest metabolic bone disease affecting a great number of people around the world. In osteoporosis, there is an increased porosity of bone as a consequence of the reduction of bone mineral density (BMD), which results in an increased risk of atraumatic fractures because the bones are no longer able to support normal stresses. Trabecular regions of bone have a far greater surface area for a given bone mineral density and can therefore be much more affected than cortical bone. Currently, in the clinical setting, BMD is typically measured using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorbtiometry (DEXA). However, DEXA is limited by its accuracy and imparts a dose of radiation as well. In addition, studies in the past have shown that BMD alone is not an ideal measure of fracture prevalence and the trabecular architecture should be considered as equally important when investigating fracture risk.

The main aim of this project is to investigate the value of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as a new and safe technique in the characterization of trabecular bone that will indicate if MRI can be employed for the investigation of bone disorders like osteoporosis. Quantitative Magnetic resonance (QMR) and Magnetic Resonance Microscopy (MRM) techniques are investigated as a continuation of previous investigations. In addition, a novel MRI technique called Sub-Pixel Enhancement of Non-uniform Tissue (SPENT) is also presented that has not previously been investigated with respect to bone imaging. All of the MRI techniques in this study are investigated in-vitro with the use of 30 bone samples. The bone samples are 15mm sided cubes cut from a predetermined location from within the head of femur, cleaned and immersed in water for the MRI experiments. The MRI derived data are then compared with the gold standard properties of these samples identified from physical calculations (i.e. BMD calculation) and mechanical testing (i.e. to determine the Young’s modulus of elasticity, which is a recognized strength indicator) in order to provide an understanding of the potential value of these MRI techniques to provide information relating to Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and fracture prevalence.
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Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	R Medicine > RZ Other systems of medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Midwifery & Radiography School of Health & Psychological Sciences > School of Health & Psychological Sciences Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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