0000000000424689
AUTHOR
Berthold Kiefer
Assessment of normal patellar cartilage volume and thickness using MRI: an analysis of currently available pulse sequences.
Objective. The objective of this study was to analyse the potential of magnetic resonance imaging for valid determination of patellar cartilage thickness, comparing currently available pulse sequences. Design. In six patients and one cadaver the cartilage was repetitively imaged employing three spin-echo and six three-dimensional gradient-echo sequences. In the cadaveric specimen the total volume and the regional distribution of cartilage thickness were assessed and compared with the values obtained from anatomical sections by image analysis. Results and conclusions. The FLASH and fat-suppressed FLASH sequences allowed the most accurate determination of the cartilage volume and thickness. F…
Magnetic resonance chondro-crassometry (MR CCM): a method for accurate determination of articular cartilage thickness?
A method for the assessment of articular cartilage thickness based on MRI is presented and its accuracy and reproducibility tested. Six specimens of human patellae were imaged, using a fat-suppressed FLASH 3D sequence, and sectioned with a high-precision band saw. The regional distribution of articular cartilage thickness was determined from the MR images and from the anatomical sections (intervals of 0.5 mm). With image analysis 50-90% of the image points were found to lie within exactly the same thickness interval in corresponding patterns, and less than 17% deviated more than 0.5 mm. More than 85% of all pixels were reproducible with MRI after new positioning of the joint. No influence o…