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The effects of water loss on the T1 and T2* of bovine cortical bone were investigated using ultrashort echo time sequences with signals excited either by a short hard pulse or by two longer half pulses. Nine bovine femur samples were prepared and sequentially air- and oven-dried. On average 3.42% of bone by weight was lost after air-drying for 3 days, with another 5.98% of bone weight loss after oven-drying at 100°C for 24 h. T1 and T2* were measured after every 1% decrease in weight, with 9-10% bone weight loss at the termination of the drying process. After both forms of drying, the overall T1 decreased 33% from 153±18 ms to 102±17 ms when measured using the hard pulse and from 186±25 ms to 122±23 ms when using the half pulses. T2* decreased by 45-50% from 368±29 μs to 201±19 μs using the hard pulse and from 379±35 μs to 191±17 μs using the half pulses. A steady decrease of 26-31% was observed in both T1 and T2* with the first 3-4% bone water loss after air-drying. Oven-drying at 100°C for 24 h resulted on an additional 4% T1 reduction but 25% T2* reduction.

Imaging of short-T2 species requires not only a short echo time (TE) but also efficient suppression of long-T2 species in order to maximize the short-T2 contrast and dynamic range. This paper introduces a method of long-T2 suppression using two long adiabatic inversion pulses. The first adiabatic inversion pulse inverts the magnetization of long-T2 water and the second one inverts that of fat. Short-T2 species experience a significant transverse relaxation during the long adiabatic inversion process, and are minimally affected by the inversion pulses. Data acquisition with a short TE of 8 μs starts following a time delay of TI1 for the inverted water magnetization to reach a null point, and a time delay of TI2 for the inverted fat magnetization to reach a null point. The suppression of long-T2 species depends on proper combination of TI1, TI2 and TR. It is insensitive to RF inhomogeneities because of the adiabatic inversion pulses. The feasibility of this dual inversion recovery ultrashort TE (DIR UTE) technique was demonstrated on phantoms, cadaveric specimens and healthy volunteers using a clinical 3T scanner. High image contrast was achieved for the deep radial and calcified layers of articular cartilage, cortical bone and the Achilles tendon.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of differing field strength on the T2* of cortical bone at 1.5 T and 3 T.Ultrashort echo time pulse sequences were used to study six bovine and nine human bone samples at 1.5 T and 3 T using single- and bi-component T2* analysis.On average, the bound water T2* of bovine bone decreased by 16% (from 0.32 ms at 1.5 T to 0.27 ms at 3 T, P 0.01) and the bound water T2* of human bone decreased by 21% (from 0.42 ms at 1.5 T to 0.33 ms at 3 T, P 0.01) at the higher field strength. The free water T2* of bovine bone decreased by 50% (from 4.23 ms at 1.5 T to 2.12 ms at 3 T, P 0.001) and the free water T2* of human bone decreased by 68% (from 7.65 ms at 1.5 T to 2.46 ms at 3 T, P 0.001) at the higher field strength. Bound and free water fractions showed only minor change with field strength in bovine (2%, P 0.05) and human bone (4%, P 0.05).Ultrashort echo time bi-component analysis provides consistent bound and free water fractions at 1.5 T and 3 T, thereby allowing field-independent comparisons.

Imaging of short-T(2) species requires not only a short echo time but also efficient suppression of long-T(2) species in order to maximize the short-T(2) contrast and dynamic range. This paper introduces a method of long-T(2) suppression using two long adiabatic inversion pulses. The first adiabatic inversion pulse inverts the magnetization of long-T(2) water and the second one inverts that of fat. Short-T(2) species experience a significant transverse relaxation during the long adiabatic inversion process and are minimally affected by the inversion pulses. Data acquisition with a short echo time of 8 mus starts following a time delay of inversion time (TI1) for the inverted water magnetization to reach a null point and a time delay of TI2 for the inverted fat magnetization to reach a null point. The suppression of long-T(2) species depends on proper combination of TI1, TI2, and pulse repetition time. It is insensitive to radiofrequency inhomogeneities because of the adiabatic inversion pulses. The feasibility of this dual inversion recovery ultrashort echo time technique was demonstrated on phantoms, cadaveric specimens, and healthy volunteers, using a clinical 3-T scanner. High image contrast was achieved for the deep radial and calcified layers of articular cartilage, cortical bone, and the Achilles tendon.