System and method for determining mechanical properties of bone structures

摘要

Systems and methods for characterizing bone structures are provided for characterizing bone structures. In the system and method, one or more 1H NMR or MRI signals associated with a bone structure are obtained. Thereafter one or more signal parameters are computed from the obtained signals, where each of the signal parameters comprising at least one of a relaxation rate constant or a corresponding signal amplitude associated with a component of the obtained signals defined by a T2 value or a range of T2 values. Finally, the mechanical properties or fracture risk for the bone structure are determined based on the computed signal parameters and stored correlation data.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining 1H signals-associated with a bone structure for a range of T2 values by applying a pulse sequence configured to cause bone tissue to generate the 1H signals corresponding to the range of T2 values, the 1H signals comprising nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals; computing one or more signal parameters from the 1H signals, each of the signal parameters comprising a signal amplitude for a pre-defined sub-range of T2 values corresponding to a proton type within the range of T2 values; and determining at least one of mechanical properties or fracture risk for the bone structure based on the signal parameters and stored correlation data that correlates the at least one of the mechanical properties or the fracture risk to values to each of the signal parameters.