Imaging human teeth by phosphorus magnetic resonance with nuclear Overhauser enhancement.
Scientific reports
2016
30756
Y. Sun, O. Brauckmann, D. Nixdorf, A. Kentgens, M. Garwood, D. Idiyatullin and A. Heerschap
Three-dimensional phosphorus MR images ((31)P MRI) of teeth are obtained at a nominal resolution of 0.5�??mm in less than 15�??minutes using acquisition pulse sequences sensitive to ultra-short transversal relaxation times. The images directly reflect the spatially resolved phosphorus content of mineral tissue in dentin and enamel; they show a lack of signal from pulp tissue and reduced signal from de-mineralized carious lesions. We demonstrate for the first time that the signal in (31)P MR images of mineralized tissue is enhanced by a (1)H-(31)P nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE). Using teeth as a model for imaging mineralized human tissue, graded differences in signal enhancement are observed that correlate well with known mineral content. From solid-state NMR experiments we conclude that the NOE is facilitated by spin diffusion and that the NOE difference can be assigned to a higher water content and a different micro-structure of dentin. Thus, a novel method for imaging mineral content without ionizing radiation is proposed. This method has potential use in the assessment of de-mineralization states in humans, such as caries of teeth and osteoporosis of bones.