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Autocalibrating parallel imaging of in vivo trabecular bone microarchitecture at 3 Tesla
Author(s) -
Banerjee S.,
Choudhury S.,
Han E.T.,
Brau A.C.S.,
Morze C.V.,
Vigneron D.B.,
Majumdar S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.21059
Subject(s) - in vivo , microarchitecture , computer science , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , operating system
Abstract In this work the generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA) technique was implemented with modified reconstruction and applied to in vivo high‐resolution (HR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the trabecular bone microarchitecture at 3 Tesla (T) with a multiple‐acquisition balanced steady‐state free precession (b‐SSFP) sequence. Trabecular bone is made up of a network of microstructures (80–140 μm), and its structural deterioration is associated with the skeletal metabolic disorder osteoporosis. HR‐MRI is a promising noninvasive tool for assessing the trabecular microarchitecture in vivo, but it involves long acquisition times. Using partially parallel imaging (PPI) to accelerate the acquisition may help mitigate this shortcoming and allow more flexibility in protocol design. In this study the effects of GRAPPA‐based reconstruction on image characteristics and the measurement of trabecular bone structural parameters were evaluated. Initial studies showed that image quality and depiction of microstructure were preserved in the GRAPPA‐based reconstruction, indicating the feasibility of PPI in HR‐MRI of trabecular bone. The results also demonstrated the potential of PPI for increasing the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) efficiency of multiple‐acquisition b‐SSFP imaging protocols. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.