Table 2 MRI sequences and tissue signal intensities [3, 8]
|
T1-weighted spin-echo (representing the sum of in-phase signals of fat and water) |
STIR (enhances the difference in longitudinal relaxation of fat and water) |
Chemical shift imaging (out-of-phase images visualizing the absolute difference between water and fat signals) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat | High | Low | High |
| Water | Low | High | High |
|
Cellular marrow (≈ 40% fat, 40% water, 20% protein) |
Intermediate (higher than muscle) |
Intermediate (higher than muscle) | Low |
|
Fatty marrow (≈ 80% fat, 15% water, 5% protein) | High | Low | High |
| Fibrosis | Low | Low | Low |