Quantitative evaluation of trabecular bone structure by calcaneus MR images texture analysis of healthy volunteers and osteoporotic subjects

The aim of this study is to evaluate, in vivo, the trabecular bone structure of the calcaneus of healthy volunteers and osteoporotic patients by texture analysis of MR images. Automated methods of texture analysis cover a wide range of techniques enabling quantitative analysis of grey level intensity and distribution within a region of interest (ROI). Texture analysis is not used very frequently since the interpretation of the large number of calculated parameters is difficult. We here apply multiparametric data analyses such as Correspondence Factorial Analysis (CFA) and Hierarchical Ascending Classification (HAC) to determine the relevant parameters to differentiate between two sets of images (healthy young volunteers and osteoporotic older patients).