# Imaging of Metabolic Bone Response due to Localized Mechanical Loading

> **NIH NIH R21** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $630,800

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Bone is an inherently dynamic tissue which is uniquely capable of recognizing and adapting to mechanical forces
to meet its functional demands. While skeletal loading stimulates bone remodeling, which serves to adjust bone
architecture and to repair microdamage in the bone matrix, excessive bone forces can be pathologic and initiate
bone and joint degeneration and skeletal fractures. Numerous methods can evaluate long-term impacts of bone
adaptation through structure and mineral density; however the acute response of bone to loading remains poorly
understood. Imaging assessment of these acute changes in bone remodeling remains a major challenge. The
scientific premise of this proposal is the development of a new method to measure the acute metabolic
response of bone to external forces.
This proposal aims to develop and validate a novel methodology to use 18F-NaF PET kinetic uptake to study the
acute vascular and metabolic response of bone to mechanical loads. Our specific aims are to (1) develop a
signal recovery model to isolate 18F-NaF uptake from multiple injections, (2) create a muscle stimulation model
for localized generation and simplified measurement of bone forces and (3) evaluate the relationship between
measured acute bone forces and altered 18F-NaF kinetics.
The innovation of this project is a novel method to induce localized joint forces, expanded pharmacokinetic
models of 18F-NaF uptake to account for multiple tracer injections and a framework to study the relationship
between mechanical forces and acute bone changes in vivo. The significance of this is a novel method to
assess the acute vascular and metabolic bone response to mechanical forces. Successful integration of this
technology will provide a breakthrough in how we assess bone metabolism in response to mechanical stimuli to
tackle key questions in musculoskeletal physiology and pathophysiology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10042719
- **Project number:** 1R21EB030180-01
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Feliks Kogan
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $630,800
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-16 → 2024-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10042719

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10042719, Imaging of Metabolic Bone Response due to Localized Mechanical Loading (1R21EB030180-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10042719. Licensed CC0.

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