High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Trabecular Bone in the Wrist at 3 Tesla: Initial Results

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of trabecular bone of the wrist at 3 Tesla (3T) in vivo and to assess the potential benefit of the increased resolution for clinical assessment of structural changes in spongy bone. Material and Methods: High-resolution MRI of the wrist was performed with a whole-body 3T MR scanner using a dedicated circularly polarized transmit-receive wrist-coil. Two 3D-FISP sequences with a spatial resolution of 300×300×300 µm3 in a measuring time of TA = 7:51 min, and 200×200×200 µm3 in TA = 9:33 min were applied. Seven young healthy volunteers and three elderly subjects with suspected osteoporosis were examined. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the optimized setup at 3T was compared to measurements at 1.5T. Results: The images at 3T allow microscopic analysis of the bone structure at an isotropic spatial resolution of 200 µm in examination times of