Maite Aznarez-Sanado1, Chamith S. Rajapakse1, Ning Zhang1, Jeremy F. Magland1, Michael J. Wald1, Alex C. Wright1, Yusuf A. Bhagat1, Wenli Sun1, Felix W. Wehrli1
1Laboratory for Structural NMR Imaging, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Assessment of bone strength in the proximal femur, a frequent site of traumatic fracture, is of significant clinical interest. Micro finite-element analysis (μ FEA) is a valuable tool for estimating bone strength. To determine the viability of μ FEA on the basis of in vivo μ MR images obtained at the proximal femur, μ FEA based on ex vivo high-resolution micro-computed tomography, simulated low resolution μ MR and in vivo μ MR images were performed. Strain maps derived from the analyses qualitatively showed similar loading characteristics. The results indicate the feasibility of μ FEA based on in vivo μ MR images of the proximal femur.