P-31 MR imaging of solid bone mineral

This paper demonstrates that bone mineral and other hard-tissue constituents are amenable to study with MR imaging and spectroscopy with appropriate MR instrumentation and techniques. To illustrate how such studies may provide heretofore unavailable windows into the subtleties of mineralized tissue chemistry in bone growth, resorption, disease, and repair. Projective phosphorus-31 MR images of synthetic biologic calcium phosphates and chicken bones were obtained by combining back-projection imaging with techniques of solid-state NMR imaging. Pure images of hydroxyapatite and brushite distributions (used as models for PO4-3 and HPO4-2) in a mixed phantom were mathematically derived from images obtained in response to spin-echo and cross-polarization pulse sequences. High-resolution solid-state spectra were acquired from synthetic, bovine, and human autopsy specimens