PURPOSE: [F]-sodium fluoride ([F]NaF) is a well-established bone-seeking agent that has shown promise to assess bone turnover in a variety of disorders, but its distribution in healthy knee joints has not been explored. This study aimed to investigate parametric values for [F]NaF uptake in various bone tissues types of the knee and their spatial distributions.

METHODS: Twelve healthy subjects were hand-injected with 92.5 MBq of [F]NaF and scanned on a 3-T PET/MRI system. Listmode PET data for both knees were acquired for 50 minutes from injection simultaneously with MRI Dixon and angiography data. The image-derived input function was determined from the popliteal artery. Using the Hawkins model, Patlak analysis was performed to obtain Ki (Ki) values and nonlinear regression analysis to obtain Ki, K1, k3/(k2 + k3), and blood volume. Comparisons for the measured kinetic parameters, SUV, and SUVmax were made between tissue types (subchondral, cortical, and trabecular bone) and between regional subsections of subchondral bone.

RESULTS: Cortical bone had the highest [F]NaF uptake differing significantly in all measured parameters when compared with trabecular bone and significantly higher SUVmax and K1 than subchondral bone. Subchondral bone also had significantly higher SUV, SUVmax, and Ki than trabecular bone tissue. Regional differences were observed in K1 and k3/(k2 + k3) values.

CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative [F]NaF PET is sensitive to variations in bone vascularization and metabolism in the knee joint.