Variable flip angle three-dimensional fast spin-echo sequence combined with outer volume suppression for imaging trabecular bone structure of the proximal femur.

BACKGROUND: To demonstrate the feasibility of using a variable flip angle three-dimensional fast spin-echo (3D VFA-FSE) sequence combined with outer volume suppression for imaging trabecular bone structure at the proximal femur in vivo at 3 Tesla.
METHODS: The 3D VFA-FSE acquisition was optimized to minimize blurring and to provide high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from bone marrow. Outer volume suppression was achieved by applying three quadratic-phase radio-frequency pulses. The SNR and trabecular bone structures from 3D VFA-FSE were compared with those from previously demonstrated multiple-acquisition 3D balanced steady-state free precision (bSSFP) using theoretical simulations, ex vivo experiments, and in vivo experiments.
RESULTS: Our simulation demonstrated that 3D VFA-FSE can provide at least 35% higher SNR than 3D bSSFP, which was confirmed by the ex vivo and in vivo experiments. The ex vivo experiments demonstrated a good correlation and agreement between bone structural paramters obtained with the two sequences. The proposed sequence depicted trabecular bone structure at the proxiaml femur in vivo well without visible suppression artifacts and provided a mean SNR of 11.0.
CONCLUSION: The 3D VFA-FSE sequence combined with outer volume suppression can depict the trabecular bone structure of the proximal femur in vivo with minimal blurring and high SNR efficiency.