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Updated: Jul 14, 2025

Proximal Cadaveric Femur Preparation for Fracture Strength Testing and Quantitative CT-based Finite Element Analysis
Published on: March 11, 2017
Utilization of a two-material decomposition from a single-source, dual-energy CT in acute traumatic vertebral
Patrick Tivnan1, Artem Kaliaev1, Stephan W Anderson1
1Department of Radiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to utilize a two-material decomposition to quantify bone marrow edema on a dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) scanner at the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine acute fractures in correlation with short tau inversion recovery (STIR) hyperintensity on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in comparison with the normal bone marrow.
Materials And Methods:
This retrospective institutional review board-approved study gathered patients over 18 years old who had acute cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spinal fractures scanned on a DECT scanner. Those who had a spinal MRI done with bone marrow STIR hyperintensity within 3 weeks of the DECT were included. The water (calcium) and fat (calcium) density (mg/cm3) measurements of the region of interest of the bone marrow were obtained at a normal anatomic equivalent site and at the fracture site where STIR hyperintensity was noted on MRI. A statistical analysis was performed using the paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test (p > 0.05).
Results:
A total of 20 patients met the inclusion criteria (males n = 17 males, females n = 3). A total of 32 fractures were analyzed: 19 cervical and 13 thoracolumbar. There were statistically significant differences in the water (43 ± 24 mg/cm3) and fat (36 ± 31 mg/cm3) density (mg/cm3) at the acute thoracic and lumbar spine fractures in correlation with edema on STIR images (both paired t-test <0.001, both Wilcoxon signed ranked test p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in the water (-10 ± 46 mg/cm3) or fat (+7 ± 50 mg/cm3) density (mg/cm3) at the cervical spine fractures.
Conclusion:
The DECT two-material decomposition using water (calcium) and fat (calcium) analyses has the ability to quantify a bone marrow edema at the acute fracture site in the thoracic and lumbar spine.
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