MR method for measuring microscopic histologic soft tissue textures.

Purpose: Provide a direct, non-invasive diagnostic measure of microscopic tissue texture in the size scale between tens of microns and the much larger scale measurable by clinical imaging. This paper presents a method and data demonstrating the ability to measure these microscopic pathologic tissue textures (histology) in the presence of subject motion in an MR scanner. This size range is vital to diagnosing a wide range of diseases.

Novel magnetic resonance technique for characterizing mesoscale structure of trabecular bone.

Osteoporosis, characterized by increased fracture risk and bone fragility, impacts millions of adults worldwide, but effective, non-invasive and easily accessible diagnostic tests of the disease remain elusive. We present a magnetic resonance (MR) technique that overcomes the motion limitations of traditional MR imaging to acquire high-resolution frequency-domain data to characterize the texture of biological tissues. This technique does not involve obtaining full two-dimensional or three-dimensional images, but can probe scales down to the order of 40 μm and in particular uncover structural information in trabecular bone.