Non-invasive predictors of human cortical bone mechanical properties: T(2)-discriminated H NMR compared with high resolution X-ray

Recent advancements in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have enabled clinical imaging of human cortical bone, providing a potentially powerful new means for assessing bone health with molecular-scale sensitivities unavailable to conventional X-ray-based diagnostics. To this end, (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution X-ray signals from human cortical bone samples were correlated with mechanical properties of bone. Results showed that (1)H NMR signals were better predictors of yield stress, peak stress, and pre-yield toughness than were the X-ray derived signals. These (1)H NMR signals can, in principle, be extracted from clinical MRI, thus offering the potential for improved clinical assessment of fracture risk.