COMPARISON OF COMPUTER-SIMULATED AND PHANTOM MEASURED PHASE VARIANCE IN THE STUDY OF TRABECULAR BONE

A new method using magnetic resonance phase images for the assessment of trabecular bone structure has recently been proposed, To test this method, a mathematical model is developed which calculates the phase d istribution in gradient echo acquired phase images of a structure of P yrex glass rods immersed in a copper sulfate solution, Several experim ents were performed using a phantom built in the same way as the struc ture used in the mathematical model, The results from the model are co mpared with those from the phantom tests, and the influence of resolut ion and bone ai-ea fraction on the phase dispersion is studied, The go od correlation between theoretical and experimental results shows that phase variance increases with increasing resolution and bone density, However, the dependence of variance on bone density is less prominent for large pixel sizes. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.