Assessment of water distribution changes in human cortical bone by nuclear magnetic resonance

A NMR spin-spin (T2) relaxation technique has been described for determining water distribution changes in human cortical bone tissue. The advantages of using NMR T2 relaxation techniques for bone water distribution are illustrated. The CPMG T2 relaxation data can be inverted to T2 relaxation distribution and this distribution then can be transformed to a pore size distribution with the longer relaxation times corresponding to larger pores. The FID T2 relaxation data can be inverted to T2 relaxation distribution and this distribution then can be transformed to bound- and mobile-water distribution with the longest relaxation time corresponding to mobile water and the middle relaxation time corresponding to bound water. The technique is applied to quantify apparent changes in porosity, bound and mobile water in cortical bone. Overall bone porosity is determined using the calibrated NMR fluid volume from the proton relaxation data divided by overall bone volume. The NMR bound and mobile water changes were determined from cortical bone specimens obtained from male and female donors of different ages. Differences in water distribution were found between specimens from male and female donors. Furthermore, the distribution of water within a single specimen was found to be non-homogeneous. Our results show that the ratio of the average bound to mobile water in bone from male donors is higher than in bone from female donors when the bone porosities are similar between male and female groups. We also show that the average bone porosity multiplied by the ratio of bound to mobile water is constant for both male and female bone groups. This parameter may be used as a measure of bone quality describing both porosity and water content, both of which may be important determinants of bone strength and fracture resistance.