Systems and methods using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to evaluate pain and degenerative properties of tissue

A method for providing diagnostic information about a chemical environment in tissue from respective nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra generated and acquired for each of a first region of tissue and a second region of tissue of a patient, the method comprising:

• accessing first NMR spectroscopic data associated with a first NMR spectrum generated via acquired NMR signals induced in the first region of tissue via an NMR spectroscopy system;
• accessing second NMR spectroscopic data associated with a second NMR spectrum generated via acquired NMR signals induced in the second region of tissue via the NMR spectroscopy system;
• processing the first NMR spectroscopic data related to the first NMR spectrum to determine a first property value for a chemical environment of the first region of tissue, wherein the processing is performed by a computer processor executing program instructions stored on computer-readable memory that cause the computer processor to:
• process a first spectral region between about 1.31 ppm and about 1.35 ppm of the first NMR spectroscopic data to determine a first spectral value for a first measured spectral parameter;
• and
• process a second spectral region between about 1.9 ppm and about 2.1 ppm of the first NMR spectroscopic data to determine a second spectral value for a second measured spectral parameter;
• and
• calculate the first property value for the chemical environment in the first region of tissue based on the first spectral value and the second spectral value;
• processing the second NMR spectroscopic data related to the second NMR spectrum to determine a second property value for a chemical environment of the second region of tissue, wherein the processing is performed by the computer processor executing the program instructions to cause the computer processor to:
• process the first spectral region between about 1.31 ppm and about 1.35 ppm of the second NMR spectroscopic data to determine a third spectral value for a third measured spectral parameter;
• and
• process the second spectral region between about 1.9 ppm and about 2.1 ppm of the second NMR spectroscopic data to determine a fourth spectral value for a fourth measured spectral parameter;
• and
• calculate the second property value for the chemical environment in the second region of tissue based on the third spectral value and the fourth spectral value;
• performing a comparison between the first property value and the second property value to determine a relative difference between the first property value and the second property value, wherein the comparison is performed by the computer processor executing the program instructions;
• and
• determining and providing the diagnostic information based at least in part on the relative difference from the comparison, wherein the diagnostic information is correlative to a difference between the chemical environments associated with a medical condition of the respective first and second regions of tissue;
• and
• comparing the first or second property value to a graded scale, wherein the diagnostic information is adapted to distinguish between grades of the graded scale.

Non-transitory computer readable media including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to at least:

• access first NMR spectroscopic data associated with a first NMR spectrum generated via acquired NMR signals induced in a first region of tissue via an NMR spectroscopy system;
• access second NMR spectroscopic data associated with a second NMR spectrum generated via acquired NMR signals induced in a second region of tissue via the NMR spectroscopy system;
• process a first spectral region between about 1.31 ppm and about 1.35 ppm of the first NMR spectroscopic data to determine a first spectral value for a first measured spectral parameter;
• process a second spectral region between about 1.9 ppm and about 2.1 ppm of the first NMR spectroscopic data to determine a second spectral value for a second measured spectral parameter;
• calculate a first property value for a chemical environment in the first region of tissue based on the first spectral value and the second spectral value;
• process the first spectral region between about 1.31 ppm and about 1.35 ppm of the second NMR spectroscopic data to determine a third spectral value for a third measured spectral parameter;
• process the second spectral region between about 1.9 ppm and about 2.1 ppm of the second NMR spectroscopic data to determine a fourth spectral value for a fourth measured spectral parameter;
• calculate a second property value for a chemical environment in the second region of tissue based on the third spectral value and the fourth spectral value;
• perform a comparison between the first property value and the second property value to determine a relative difference between the first property value and the second property value;
• determine and provide diagnostic information based at least in part on the relative difference from the comparison, wherein
• the diagnostic information is correlative to a difference between the chemical environments associated with a medical condition of the respective first and second regions of tissue;
• and
• compare the first or second property value to a graded scale, wherein the diagnostic information is adapted to distinguish between grades of the graded scale.