NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE MICRO-IMAGERY APPLIED TO THE TRABECULAR STRUCTURE IN BONE

Osteoporosis is a disease that is characterized by loss of bone densit y and alteration of the trabecular microarchitecture. The aim of this work is to validate a technique for evaluating the bone architecture u sing X-ray pictures. In the first phase, we established a protocol for constructing a 3D numerical model of bone tissue using Magnetic Reson ance Imaging (MRI). Tools capable of both morphological and topologica l 3D characterization as well as a tool for numerically simulating X-r ays were developed and applied using this model. In the second phase, we used these tools to demonstrate the correlations between the 3D cha racteristics of the cell structure and its X-ray projection.