Ultrashort Echo Time and Fast Field Echo Imaging and Processing for Spine Bone Imaging in Spondylolysis

Motivation: Fracture of pars interarticularis is a common injury in adolescent athletes, currently requiring CT scan for accurate diagnosis. Goal(s): Advance MR imaging to depict spinal bone with high fidelity. Approach: Two techniques utilizing multiecho ultrashort echo time (UTE) and field echo (FE) with simple post-processing were developed to image lumbar spinal bone. SNR and CNR were determined, and clinical utility was assessed in patients. Results: Improvements in visual quality and bone contrast were achieved using multiecho processing as opposed to a single echo inversion. Both UTE and FE techniques provided good bone contrast, although FE provide significantly better resolution and bone-muscle contrast. Impact: This study advances MR imaging of the pars interarticularis for evaluation of spondylolysis. We demonstrated clinical feasibility in a patient with a pars defect, depicted with clarity with the techniques described here.