Evaluation of PET/MR and PET/CT Imaging for Bone Marrow Lesions

Imaging of the pelvis and bilateral femora at 1.5 Tesla in a 30 minute research time "slots" at NYU-FPO MRI, Tisch Hospital, NYU Medical Center, Department of Radiology, HCC basement. This protocol utilizes routine, Dixon sequences and multi-echo MR "spectroscopic" sequences, allowing quantization of the fat water and trabecular moieties of marrow. The opposed phase portion of a Dixon sequence can aid differentiation between dense red marrow and a metastatic deposits by assaying for intravoxel fat. Diffusion sequences may also potentially improve specificity by assessing mobility of water in hypercellular and hypocellular portions of marrow, and will be added to the protocol if scan time permits. The new sequences conform to FDA safety regulations regarding static magnetic field, time varying magnetic fields, specific absorption rate, and acoustic noise levels. However, since they have not been fully validated for diagnostic accuracy, the resulting images will be analyzed for research purposes only and will not be used in the patient's diagnostic assessment.