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MRI assessment of cartilage ultrastructure
Author(s) -
Gründer Wilfried
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
nmr in biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.278
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1099-1492
pISSN - 0952-3480
DOI - 10.1002/nbm.1092
Subject(s) - cartilage , anisotropy , magic angle , biomedical engineering , visualization , articular cartilage , magnetic resonance imaging , materials science , nuclear magnetic resonance , orientation (vector space) , microscopy , anatomy , computer science , osteoarthritis , physics , nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy , pathology , optics , biology , artificial intelligence , mathematics , geometry , medicine , alternative medicine , radiology
In T 2 ‐weighted MRI images joint cartilage can appear laminated. The multilaminar appearance is visualized as zones of different intensity. This appearance is based on the dipolar interaction of water molecules within cartilage zones of different collageneous network structures. Therefore, the MR visualization of zones of anisotropic arrangement of the collagen fibers depends upon their orientation to the static magnetic field (magic‐angle effect). The aim of this article is to demonstrate the potential of high‐resolution MRI for characterizing cartilage network structuring and biomechanical properties. Information equivalent to that from polarization light microscopy can be derived noninvasively. Based on NMR microscopic (µMRI) data, potential new possibilities of MRI for quantitative assessment of collagen structuring and intracartilagenous load distribution are presented. These methods use MR intensity angle dependence and load influence on cartilage visualization. Alternatively to the determination of mechanical parameters from cartilage deformation, it is demonstrated that stress distribution and biomechanical properties can be derived in principle from the local intensity variation of anisotropic fiber orientation zones. The limitations with respect to a clinical application of the proposed methods are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.