Magnetic resonance microimaging of pore freezing in hydroxyapatite

Single-point magnetic resonance imaging (SPI) is applied to study the freezing behavior of hydroxyapatite samples, The 1-D and 2-D SPI images of the studied samples, taken as a function of the temperature, show the distribution of the body fluids throughout the sample and clearly demonstrate the usefulness of SPI in the study of internal structure of porous hydroxyapatite. In addition, the freezing process was followed by H-1 NMR line widths measurements as a function of the temperature. The consideration of the evaporable fluid content during freezing of the hydroxyapatite allows determination of the pore size distribution in the two studied samples.