Feliks Kogan, Ph.D.

Siegfried Trattnig, M.D.

Ashley A Williams¹, Carl S Winalski², and Constance R Chu^1
1Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ²Imaging Institute and Department Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

Patients who suffer ACL tear and reconstruction are at heightened risk of developing osteaoarthritis. Indications of future degeneration, including matrix alterations characteristic of osteoarthritis, may be present in cartilage shortly after ligament reconstruction. Quantitative assessments of T2 maps of 19 ACL-injured subjects over 2 years indicate that changes to T2 texture, but not T2 mean, observed over the first 6 months following ACL reconstruction are associated with 2-year change to cartilage thickness and morphologic joint status. Textural and mean T2 differences between ACL-reconstructed and control subjects observed at the time of ligament reconstruction resolved over the following 2 years.

Bragi Sveinsson¹, Catherine Moran¹, Daehyun Yoon¹, Garry Gold¹, and Brian Hargreaves^1
1Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Early disease detection of osteoarthritis is important for treatment development and much research has recently been devoted to developing imaging methods to that end. The Double Echo Steady State (DESS) sequence has been shown to be able to provide measurements of T2 and ADC in articular cartilage, which can be used as biomarkers for disease detection, in addition to morphological information. In this work, we demonstrate the ability to use the two later echoes of two DESS scans for diffusion contrast, and how the variability of the ADC estimate will depend on spoiler strength.

Arttu Peuna¹, Joonas Hekkala², Marianne Haapea³, Jana Podlipska^1,2, Miika T Nieminen^1,3, Simo Saarakkala^2,3, and Eveliina Lammentausta^1,3
1Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, ²Department of Medical Technology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, ³Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

Gray level co-occurrence matrix texture analysis is an effective way to analyze relaxation time maps. Parameters such as entropy and contrast can be used to depict the spatial structure of data. In this study, texture parameters were calculated from T2 maps of asymptomatic and osteoarthritic subjects using a rotating reference orientation, based on the natural curvature of the articular surface. Texture analysis showed significant differences between groups even when compartmental mean T2 values were unable to differentiate the groups. GLCM analysis of T2 maps can provide complementary information on early cartilage changes in knee OA.

Valentina Pedoia¹, Favian Su¹, Drew Lansdown¹, Richard Souza¹, Benjamin Ma¹, and Xiaojuan Li^1
1UCSF, San Francisco, California, United States

T1 /T2 MRI quantification can be used to detect cartilage early degeneration after ACL injury and reconstruction. Recently, bone shape features have been proposed as biomarkers for predicting OA progression. However, the potential role the shape in the development of post-traumatic OA is unknown. In the present study, Statistical Shape Modeling is applied to explore the relationship between knee bone shape and the progression of cartilage T1/T2 1 year after ACL reconstruction. The results of this study suggest that specific aspects of the bone shape may predict the progression of T1/T2 6 month and 1 year after ACL reconstruction.

Eric Y Chang^1,2, Reni Biswas², Betty Tran², Sheronda Statum², Jiang Du², Won C Bae², and Christine B Chung^1,2
1Radiology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, United States, ²Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, CA, United States

21 meniscal slices were evaluated using a surgical reference standard and a panel of quantitative MRI measures. We found that T2* values obtained with UTE sequences can delineate normal from degenerated menisci, thus complimenting conventional sequences. Torn menisci demonstrate higher T2, UTE-T2*, T1rho, and UTE-T1rho values compared with normal menisci.