Quantitative MSK MRI
Musculoskeletal Thursday, 20 May 2021
Oral
Digital Poster
4203 - 4221
4222 - 4241

Oral Session - Quantitative MSK MRI
Musculoskeletal
Thursday, 20 May 2021 18:00 - 20:00
  • A Method for Measuring B0 Field Inhomogeneity using Quantitative DESS (qDESS)
    Marco Barbieri1, Akshay S. Chaudhari1,2, Catherine J. Moran1, Garry E. Gold1,3, Brian A. Hargreaves1,3,4, and Feliks Kogan1
    1Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 2Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 3Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 4Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
    The proposed method for measuring B0 inhomogeneities from a qDESS acquisition provided B0 maps that were in good agreement with those obtained using WASSR both in phantom and in-vivo. The agreement between qDESS and WASSR was comparable to that of a standard 2-GRE method.
    Schematization of the processing pipeline used to compute B0 map in Femoral Cartilage using qDESS. The coil-combined phase difference between the second and first echo is computed using the Hermitian inner product10. Femoral cartilage is segmented using a deep learning model with the DSOMA framework13. The FC segmented 3D wrapped phase difference is unwrapped with PRELUDE14 and then B0 is computed according to eq. 1. The 3D B0 map is projected onto a 2D space for visualization using DOMSA.
    Left (A1) and right (B1) unrolled 2D B0 projection maps in FC obtained using the WASSR, qDESS and 2-GRE methods for a simultaneous bilateral knee acquisition. A pixel-wise unrolled 2D difference map with WASSR is also displayed. BA plots for the left (A2) and right (B2) knees to evaluate the agreement between the WASSR method and the qDESS and 2-GRE methods, respectively. The plots were made using B0 values sampled from six slices in the FC (2 in the lateral condyles, 2 in the trochlea, and 2 in the medial condyles). In the right knee, registration errors caused artifacts in the trochlea region.
  • Analysis of Diffusion Changes in Patients with Juvenile Osteochondritis Dissecans (JOCD) of the Knee at 3T
    Abdul Wahed Kajabi1,2,3, Stefan Zbyn1,3, Cyrus M. Nouraee1, Kai D. Ludwig1,3, Casey P. Johnson1,4, Steen Moeller1, Mark A. Tompkins5, Bradley J. Nelson5, Gregory J. Metzger1, Cathy S. Carlson4, and Jutta M. Ellermann1,3
    1Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, 2Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, 3Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, 4Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, 5Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
    Diffusion-weighted MRI allows quantitative evaluation of juvenile osteochondritis dissecans of the knee, can differentiate between healed and not yet healed lesions, and can distinguish between the operative and nonoperative treatment groups.
    Figure 2. A 15-year old boy with stage III JOCD lesion. (A) The first echo of the T2*-weighted images showing lesion region (arrow). (B) The corresponding color-coded apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map. The zoomed in box of the lesion and control regions in (A) depicts the evaluated regions: progeny lesion (light green), interface (red), adjacent parent bone (cyan), distant parent bone (magenta), adjacent cartilage (dark blue), contralateral cartilage (yellow), and contralateral parent bone (dark green).
    Figure 3. The average of the median ADC values measured in ROIs at JOCD stage I (n=7), stage II (n=20), stage III (n=12) and stage IV (n=7). Decreased ADC values were observed in patients with JOCD stage IV compared to JOCD stages I-III in the interface, lesion and adjacent parent bone.
  • Simultaneous anatomical, pathological and T2 quantitative knee imaging with 3D submillimeter isotropic resolution using MIXTURE
    Takayuki Sakai1,2, Masami Yoneyama3, Atsuya Watanabe4,5, Daichi Murayama1, Shigehiro Ochi1, Shuo Zhang6, and Tosiaki Miyati7
    1Radiology, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Tonage, Japan, 2Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, 3Philips Japan, Tokyo, Japan, 4General Medical Services, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan, 5Orthopaedic Surgery, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Chiba, Japan, 6Philips Healthcare, Hamburg, Germany, 7Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
    MIXTURE successful offers multi-contrast and quantitative images within one single scan, which could provide information for potential anatomical and pathological assessment simultaneously for knee imaging.

    Fig.1 Scheme of the MIXTURE (Multi-Interleaved X-prepared tse with inTUitive RElaxometry).

    (a) T2-mapping was performed using T2-prepared 3D segmented turbo spin- echo (TSE) with variable refocusing pulse trains.(b) Two images with different TE (TE = 0 and 50ms) were acquired with interleaved acquisition. To obtain the compatible contrasts with routine TSE images, TSE shot#1 did not apply any pre-pulses (as “PDW) and shot#2 applied both SPAIR and T2pre (as “fat-suppressed T2W”).

    Fig.4 Simultaneous multi-contrast and quantitative images of MIXTURE from a patient with knee joint pain.

    Upper: 57y male, knee osteoarthritis, osteonecrosis, bone bruise, intraosseous cyst.Lower: 65y male, idiopathic osteonecrosis.

  • Association Between UTE-MRI T2* Relaxation Times and Symptoms During Exercise Therapy for Patellar Tendinopathy
    Stephan J. Breda1, Robert-Jan de Vos2, Dirk Poot1, Gabriel Krestin1, Juan A. Hernandez-Tamames1, and Edwin Oei1
    1Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2Orthopaedics, Erasmus Univerity Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
    A longitudinal decrease in T2* relaxation times quantified using 3D UTE MRI was associated with clinical improvement in athletes performing exercise therapy for patellar tendinopathy.

    A) Axial 3D-UTE images of the proximal patellar tendon in a patient with patellar tendinopathy.

    B) Selected voxels for tissue-specific T2* analysis in the degenerative tissue of the patellar tendon. Mean T2* decreased from 19.9±7.3 ms (baseline) to 17.2±5.8 ms (12 weeks) to 16.8±4.9 ms (24 weeks).

    C) Mono-exponential T2* maps, on a scale from dark blue (short T2* relaxation times) to red (long T2* relaxation times).

    D) Bi-exponential fitting maps, displaying the percentage of short T2* components on a scale from dark blue (0% short T2* components) to red (100% short T2* components).


    Relation between the change in T2* relaxation times and symptom severity. Symptom severity was assessed using the validated VISA-P questionnaire (scale 0-100), where 100 represents no pain, unrestricted function and maximum ability to play sports.

  • Differences in distribution of MRI-based fat fraction in lower limb skeletal muscles of six different neuromuscular disorders
    Harmen Reyngoudt1,2, Pierre-Yves Baudin1,2, Ericky C.A. Araujo1,2, Pierre G. Carlier3, and Benjamin Marty1,2
    1NMR Laboratory, Neuromuscular Investigation Center, Institute of Myology, Paris, France, 2NMR Laboratory, CEA/DRF/IBFJ/MIRCen, Paris, France, 3CEA, DRF, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, France
    The differences in fat fraction distribution in neuromuscular disorders, as assessed by simple statistical metrics such as standard deviation, kurtosis and skewness, might reveal additional information about the individual patient’s disease evolution and the effects of treatment.
    Fig. 3. FF histograms and MRI-based FF map in 4 examples of soleus muscle with very similar mean FF value, in 4 different NMDs (DMD, DYS, IMB and IMNM). Values for number of pixels in ROI (#pixels), mean FF (M), median FF (Mdn), FF standard deviation (std), kurtosis (K) and skewness (S) are presented as mean ± standard deviation, of all included muscles or ROIs (indicated by n).
    Fig. 1. Illustration of the individually drawn muscle ROIs across 5 slices in the thigh and the leg: AL, adductor longus, AM, adductor magnus, BF, biceps femoris, ED, extensor digitorum, GL, gastrocnemius lateralis, GM, gastrocnemius medialis, GRA, gracilis, PER, peroneus, RF, rectus femoris, SAR, sartorius, SM, semimembranosus, SOL, soleus, ST, semitendinosus, TA, tibialis anterior, TP, tibialis posterior, VI, vastus intermedius, VL, vastus lateralis, VM, vastus medialis.
  • Tumor T1 for early chemotherapeutic response evaluation in patients with osteosarcoma with correlation to histological necrosis
    Esha Baidya Kayal1, Nikhil Sharma1, Raju Sharma2, Sameer Bakhshi3, Devasenathipathy Kandasamy2, and Amit Mehndiratta1,4
    1Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India, 2Radio diagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, New Delhi, India, 3Department of Medical Oncology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute-Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, New Delhi, India, 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, New Delhi, India
    Mean and skewness of tumor T1 values in osteosarcoma may characterize chemotherapeutic changes in osteosarcoma and might be useful as non-invasive imaging markers of chemotherapy response.

    Figure 2: Images are from A. a representative patients (M, 15 years) from Response group with osteosarcoma in right Tibia. B. a representative patients (M, 14 years) from Non-Response group with osteosarcoma in right femur.

    For A and B: a, c) Estimated T1 maps and b, d) Histogram of T1 values in tumor at baseline and follow-up respectively.

    A comparatively higher reduction tumor T1 can be observed after chemotherapy for Responder than Non-responder. Histogram of tumor T1 for Responder was low picked at baseline and became more positively skewed after chemotherapy than Non-responder.

    Figure 3: ROC curve analysis using statistically significant (p<0.5) histogram parameters of T1 value in tumor a) at baseline and b) its relative percentage changes (Δ) at follow-up.

    a) At baseline T1-mean and T1-skewness in combination produced AUC=0.86, sensitivity=88%, specificity=72% in identifying chemotherapeutic response.

    b) After chemotherapy, ΔT1-mean and ΔT1-skewness in combination produced AUC=0.92, sensitivity=89%, specificity=92% in identifying chemotherapeutic response.

  • The clinical value of MRI in quantitatively evaluating anterior cruciate ligament mucoid degeneration
    Guangtao Fan1, Yudan Li1, Fenglin Xue2, Yilong Huang1, Yanlin Li3, Guoliang Wang3, Tianfu Qi1, Lisha Nie4, and Bo He1
    1Department of Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China, 2Department of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China, 3Department of Sports Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China, 4GE Healthcare, Kunming, China
    The study aims to explore the clinical application value of MRI to quantitatively assess the ACL-MD. It was concluded that MRI T1, T2, T2* values can quantitatively evaluate knee joint ACL-MD, and T2* value has the highest diagnostic efficiency.
    Figure 1: Images of an ACL-MD patient who is a 61-year-old female with the OSag fs (Oblique Sagittal fat suppression Proton Density weighted image), sagittal 3D-FIESTA, T1mapping, T2mapping, T2*mapping, arthroscopy and pathology.
    Figure 2: The curves of T1, T2, and T2* values in the ACL-MD group.
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Fiber Tractography in Porcine Meniscus
    Jikai Shen1, Qi Zhao1, Yi Qi1, Gary Cofer1, G. Allan Johnson1, and Nian Wang2
    1Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, 2Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United States
    Strong zonal-dependent diffusion properties were demonstrated by DTI metrics (FA, MD, AD, and RD). Combining tractography and automatic segmentation method, we were able to observe the structural connections among different areas of the meniscus.
    Figure 5. The structural connection heatmap of meniscus (c) obtained by the automatic parcellation (a) and tractography (b).
    Figure 1. The automatic segmentation process used in this study, from the acquired DWI (a) to the 9 different areas of meniscus (e). Both Radial Segmentation (c) and Rotational Segmentation (d) were derived from the binary mask (b). These two methods were further combined to divide the whole meniscus to 9 regions (e). R-R: Red-Red zone; R-W: Red-White zone; W-W: White-White zone.
  • Achieving Rapid and Accurate Relaxometry of Whole Knee Joint using Self-Supervised Deep Learning
    Fang Liu1, Georges El Fakhri1, Martin Torriani1, Richard Kijowski2, and Miho Tanaka3
    1Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, 2New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, 3Orthopaedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
    A model-guided self-supervised deep learning approach was demonstrated in accelerated T1/T2 mapping of the whole knee joint and proven to outperform other state-of-the-art reconstruction methods.
    Figure 1: The schematic demonstration of the CNN framework implementing RELAX. A cyclic workflow was constructed to enforce self-supervised learning. The physics models and additional constraints can be incorporated into the framework to guide the learning of CNN mapping function to extract the latent image parameter maps from undersampled images.
    Figure 3: Comparison of T1 maps generated from different reconstruction methods for another testing knee dataset at R=5. The deep learning-based methods, including both MANTIS and RELAX, removed most of the artifacts and showed a similar reconstruction performance, which outperformed conventional constrained reconstruction k-t SLR. The absolute error maps were amplified by five times for display purposes to show the method difference.
  • 3T-Chemical Shift Encoded MRI with Ultra-Short Echo Time Acquisition for Bone Quality Assessment: Preliminary Results in the Hip.
    Dimitri MARTEL1, Benjamin LEPORQ2, Stephen HONIG3, and Gregory CHANG1
    1Radiology, NYU Langone Health, New york, NY, United States, 2Université de Lyon; CREATIS CNRS UMR 5220, Inserm U1206, INSA-Lyon, UCBL Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France, 3Osteoporosis Center, Hospital for Joint Diseases, NYU Langone Health, New york, NY, United States
    We present a method of Chemical Shift Encoded (CSE) using ultrashort echo time (uTE) MRI for in vivo bone imaging which can be easily incorporated into routine clinical protocols and establish a novel imaging biomarker for bone. 
    Figure 1: A) Coronal slices at different echo time extracted from the 3D uTE. B) Parametric maps from a uTE-CSE acquisition: Fat-water decomposition allowed to reconstruct adiposity map (PDFF) and long T2 species T2* map. C) uTE Sub (weighted substraction of long and short echo image) and porosity maps which respectively indicate average pore size volume and bone porosity, and short T2* map of cortical bone.
    Figure 3: Comparison between PDFF measurements obtained by uTE and CSE in different hip bone subregions.
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Digital Poster Session - Quantitative MRI I
Musculoskeletal
Thursday, 20 May 2021 19:00 - 20:00
  • MIXTURE: A novel sequence for simultaneous morphological and quantitative imaging based on multi-interleaved 3D turbo-spin echo MRI
    Masami Yoneyama1, Takayuki Sakai2, Shuo Zhang3, Daichi Murayama2, Hajime Yokota4, Yansong Zhao5, Shinji Saruya6, Masashi Suzuki6, Atsuya Watanabe7,8, Mamoru Niitsu6, and Marc Van Cauteren9
    1Philips Japan, Tokyo, Japan, 2Department of Radiology, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Chiba, Japan, 3Philips Healthcare, Hamburg, Germany, 4Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Radiation Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan, 5Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, OH, United States, 6Department of Radiology, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan, 7Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Chiba, Japan, 8General Medical Services, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan, 9Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands
    MIXTURE based on 3D multi-interleaved MRI offers high-resolution multi-contrast images, with or without fat suppression, and parametric maps in a single scan. Initial results in human subjects show promise for simultaneous morphological and quantitative imaging in the clinical practice.

    Figure 1. Scheme of the MIXTURE T2 mapping.

    T2-mapping is performed using T2-prepared 3D segmented turbo spin- echo (TSE) with variable refocusing pulse trains. Two images with different TE (TE = 0 and 50ms) were acquired with interleaved acquisition. To obtain the compatible contrasts with routine TSE images, TSE shot#1 did not apply any pre-pulses (as “PDW) and shot#2 applied both SPAIR and T2prep (as “fat-suppressed T2W”).


    Figure 2. Scheme of the MIXTURE T1ρ mapping.

    T1ρ mapping was performed using a twice-refocused spin-lock (SL) prepared segmented TSE sequence with spectral fat suppression. Three images with different SL preparation times (SL = 0, 25, and 50ms) were acquired with interleaved acquisition. Amplitude of the SL pulse was set to 500 Hz. TSE shot#1 did not apply any pre-pulses and later shots applied both SPAIR and SLprep.

  • Annular tears in the intervertebral disc can be detected and highlighted using conventional MRI, texture analysis and neural networks
    Christian Waldenberg1, Stefanie Eriksson1, Hanna Hebelka2, Helena Brisby3, and Kerstin Magdalena Lagerstrand1
    1Department of Radiation Physics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2Department of Radiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden, 3Department of Orthopaedics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
    Based on MRI, texture analysis, and neural networks, a workflow for determining the position of annular tears in the intervertebral disc was proposed. Classification sensitivity and specificity of 100% respectively 93% were reached. The position of 67% of the tears was correctly determined.
    Figure 4: Example of a CT-image displaying the lumbar spine (L2-S1). All visible IVDs have been injected with a contrast media visible in white. The contrast media is spread through posterior annular tears and their location is correctly determined by the proposed algorithm in the T2W MR image and highlighted in red.
    Figure 3: Confusion matrix presenting the classification results based on validation data in a 10-fold stratified cross-validation. True Positive: 100%, False Positive: 6.7%, True Negative: 100%, False Negative: 0%
  • Lumbar Fatty Acid Composition (FAC) Measurement in Osteoporosis Patients Using MRI
    Lina Lin1, Lutian Bai1, Qun Cheng2, Manuel Schneider3, Marcel Dominik Nickel3, Caixia Fu4, Guangwu Lin1, and Shihong Li1
    1Department of Radiology, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 2Department of Osteoporosis, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 3MR Application Predevelopment, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany, 4Application Development, Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd, Shenzhen, China
    FF value was negatively correlated with T value (P < 0.05, r = -0.371), and SF value was positively correlated with T value (P < 0.05, r = 0.399). The PUI value of the osteopenia group was significantly higher than that of the osteoporosis group(P < 0.05)and normal bone mass group(P < 0.05).
    FAC maps of a patient with Osteoporosis: mono-unsaturated fat (A), poly-unsaturated fat (B), saturated fat (C) and unsaturated fat (D).
    PUF on the second lumbar vertebrae of the three groups
  • Association of cartilaginous endplate changes in degenerative intervertebral discs and vertebral marrow fat: a quantitative MRI study
    Yayun Ji1,2, Jianqiang Fang2, Binyu Zhang2, Siyuan Mi2, Weiyin Vivian Liu3, Weian Zhao2, and Liheng Ma1
    1The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China, 2Xianyang Central Hospital, Xianyang, China, 3MR research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China
    This study aims to investigate if advanced UTE T2* Mapping MRI quantitative sequence could sensitively assess the early changes in the biochemical components of the cartilage endplate.  
    Figure 1 UTE T2* Mapping of cartilaginous endplate. (a) the cartilage endplates of L1/2-L5/S1 were divided into three equal parts from front to back, and the ROI of each part was delineated, including ASEP, MSEP, PSEP, AIEP, MIEP and PIEP. Then, the superior and inferior cartilaginous endplates (SEP, IEP) were completely delineated, that is, the complete measurement was carried out without triserification, and then the T2* value of each part was measured in false color figure b and c
    FIG. 2 Bar plots of T2* in the Pfirrmann graded cartilaginous endplate in four groups. Except for Grade I, the T2* value of Grade III-V in the superior endplate was inferior than that in the inferior endplate. T2* value of superior endplate decreases gradually from Grade I-IV. The value of T2* in the inferior and rear end of the superior endplate was inferior than that in the front middle. T2* in the posterior part of the superior endplate was higher than that in the inferior end plate for Grade I-II and opposite for Grade III-IV.
  • 3D-ultrashort echo time imaging evaluation of the sacroiliac joint in patients with ankylosing spondylitis
    Cui Ren1, Qing Li2, Stefan Sommer3,4, Qiao Zhu1, and Huishu Yuan1
    1Radiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China, 2MR Collaborations, Siemens Healthcare Ltd, Shanghai, China, 3Siemens Healthcare, Zurich, Switzerland, 4Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging (SCMI), Zurich, Switzerland
    Compared with conventional imaging of the sacroiliac joint for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) assessment, 3D-UTE provides quantitative T2* values. These are significantly higher in AS compared with controls, providing potential diagnostic value.
    Fig1. Average T2* values of the AS group were statistically higher than those of the control group.
    Note. — A total of 30 AS patients with 60 sacroiliac joints; n, numbers of sacroiliac joints
  • A Combined Solid-State 1H and 31P Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Assess Bone Mineral and Matrix Densities in Rat bones
    Victor Babu Kassey1,2,3,4, Matthias Walle1, Jonathan Egan1, Diana Yeritsyan1, Yaotang Wu2,3,4, Brian D Snyder2,4, Edward Rodriguez1,2, Jerome Ackerman2,5, and Ara Nazarian1,2,4
    1Carl J. Shapiro Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States, 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, 3Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, 4Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, 5Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
    Solid-state 1H and 31P ZTE imaging were feasible to compute bone matrix and mineral densities on ex-vivo rat bone specimens at 7T. We expect that this method can be extended to humans to measure bone matrix and mineral densities to identify osteoporosis and osteomalacia non-invasively.  
    Figure 1(a): The least squares fit of known PEG and HA phantom densities vs. 1H and 31P MRI derived intensities after B1 correction with 3-point calibration. (b). Rat femur 1H images (water+fat suppressed) and 31P images, the same slice 1H & 31P images (blue color). (c). EBM values from Gravimetry and MRI analysis.
  • Monitoring changes of knee with Amateur Marathon athletes using Synthetic Magnetic Resonance Imaging :A preliminary study
    Yijie Fang1, Wenjun Yu1, Long Qian2, and Shaolin Li1
    1The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China, 2MR Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China
    Synthetic MRI technique has a good display of knee joint structural lesions, and is of high value in monitoring the dynamic changes of knee cartilage extracellular matrix in amateur marathon athletes
    Male, 35 years old, participated in the full marathon twice, and his medial half month later his foot was torn horizontally. Fig. ① - ⑧ showed 3d Cube-Pd and Magic (T1WI, IW, T2WI, stir, t1mapping, pdmapping, T2mapping) respectively. ① 3D cube-pd showed linear hyperintensity in the posterior horn of the medial meniscus, magiciw, T2WI and stir sequences showed mild hyperintensity in the posterior horn of the meniscus. figure ⑦ Pd-mapping. The signal intensity of medial meniscus was slightly increased in T1 mapping and figure ⑧ in T2WI mapping.
    Male, 45 year old, participated in the whole marathon for 5 times, suffered from patellar cartilage injury. Fig. ① 3D cube-pd shows the absence of the inferior part of patellar cartilage, bone marrow edema under the articular surface, magec T1WI sequence, IW and T2WI show the absence of cartilage, and the bone marrow edema under the articular surface is not clear. Figure ⑦ PD mapping showed partial cartilage defect and slight increase of bone marrow edema signal. T2WI mapping showed that the signal intensity in some areas increased, but no obvious signal increase in bone marrow edema
  • Glycosaminoglycan detection in OA patients using AC-iTIP at 3.0T: A preliminary study
    Baiyan Jiang1, Ki-wai, Kevin Ho2, Xiao Fan1, Jian Hou1, Chun-man Lawrence Lau2, James Griffith1, and Weitian Chen1
    1Imaging & Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, 2Orthopaedics & Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
    It is difficult to detect glycosanimoglycan signal using CEST under 3T due to its fast chemical exchange characteristics and strong direct water saturation effect. In  this preliminaray study, we demonstrated the possibility of GAG detection using AC-iTIP method under 3T field strength.
    Figure 2. ROIs on a healthy volunteer (a) and 4 OA patients (b-d). Patient b has OA developed around ROI 3 and 4. Patient c has almost no cartilage left. Patient d has OA in ROI 1 and patient e has OA in ROI 1 and 2.
    Figure 4. Fitted pb values comparing healthy volunteer (a) and 4 OA patients (b-d), arranged in the same order as in figure 2. Note that fitted pb values have a similar trend compared to figure 3. Fitted pb values of OA patients are generally lower than the healthy volunteer. Fitted pb values can also be correlated to cartilage regions with obvious OA symptom.
  • Measuring the effect of mechanical loading on deep and superficial cartilage using quantitative UTE MRI
    Hanqi Wang1, Qing Li2, Stefan Sommer3,4, and Yong Lu1
    1Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, 2MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthcare Ltd., Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China, 3Siemens Healthcare, Zurich, Switzerland, Zurich, Switzerland, 4Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging (SCMI), Balgrist Campus, Zurich, Switzerland, Zurich, Switzerland
    Quantitative MRI using UTE is used to show the differences in mechanical loading between deep and superficial cartilage, which is reflective of different bio-mechanical properties in these tissues.
    Figure 1. Example UTE subtraction images of patella cartilage (A, B, TE1 = 0.1 ms, TE2 = 2.8 ms) , as well as UTE images at a series of TEs: (C) 0.1 ms, (D) 0.5 ms, (E) 2.8 ms, and (F) 5 ms. ROIs were delineated on deep (yellow) and superficial (blue) layers of patella cartilage in B and copied to C-F to measure the signal intensity. T2* values from single-component exponential fitting curves (G) were 3.08 ms deep patella cartilage and 13.28 ms superficial patella cartilage.
    Table 1. Deep cartilage T2* values before and after activity
  • Intermediate exchange rate measured between bound and free water pools of tendon: implications on bi-component relaxation modeling
    Muhammad Ali Raza Anjum1, Anshuman Swain 1, Johannes Leisen2, Felix Gonzalez1, and David Reiter 1
    1Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, 2Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, United States
    Intermediate exchange in tendon causes bi-component model to underestimate short pool population and overestimate long pool population/decay rates. Two-pool exchange model can be more specific to structural/biochemical changes in pathological tendon.
    Figure 2. Representative T2-T2 relaxation spectra of bovine and ovine Achilles tendon obtained from 2D-ILT8 (panel a), and those reconstructed from 2D-SMA estimates (panel b) of two-dimensional proton T2-T2 relaxometry NMR data. Mixing time, $$$t_{m}$$$ , is 1, 10, and 100ms. T2 axes in 2D-ILT spectra are displayed in log10 scale (seconds). (2D-ILT = two-dimensional inverse Laplace transform; 2D-SMA = two-dimensional subband Steiglitz-McBride algorithm.)
    Table 1. Mean exchange-rate estimates of T2-T2 correlation relaxometry data and the mean apparent and inherent bi-component estimates of proton NMR data of bovine (N=3) and ovine (N=3) Achilles tendon samples. Percentage increase in the apparent estimate value in the presence of exchange is also displayed, computed as: 100$$$\times$$$(apparent estimate - inherent estimate)/ inherent estimate.
  • State of the ART (Adversarial Robust Training) to Reconstruct Clinically Relevant Features in Accelerated Knee MRI
    Francesco Caliva1, Victor Kaiyang Cheng2, Rutwik Shah1, Misung Han1, Sharmila Majumdar1, and Valentina Pedoia1
    1University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, 2University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
    We found ART (Adversarial Robust Training) can encourage the reconstruction of small, clinically relevant features in MRIs and ultimately increase the diagnostic reliability of under-sampled data.
    Figure 1: Proposed image reconstruction framework. During training, an attacker introduces difficult to reconstruct features (δ) to under-sampled images (x): it maximizes a reconstruction error between x and a fully-sampled image (y), in the presence of δ, given a network parametrized by θ. Next, network's parameters (θ) are updated to minimize a robust training loss, which includes a reconstruction error and a robust training term that further penalizes reconstruction errors in the regions including abnormalities.
    Figure 4 Abnormality reconstruction improved using our proposed ART strategy (based on the SqueezeNet classifier). Reconstruction of 4x undersampled MRI obtained using A) baseline Unet, B) proposed approach; C) fully-sampled MRI. D) Difference map between A) and B), shows clearer visibility of cartilage lesions and a better preservation of abnormal signal changes.
  • Quantitative Evaluation of Lumbar Bone Marrow Fat Content with Age,Gender and Body Mass Index by Using 3D mDixon Quant
    Yu Song1, Qingwei qing Song2, Yingkun Guo1, Gang Ning1, Xuesheng Li1, and Yu Song3
    1Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, 2Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China, 3Department of Radiology, West China Second University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
    Age, gender, and BMI are all factors that may affect the lumbar vertebra fat content. These factors should be considered in the analysis and evaluation of lumbar vertebra fat content in different individuals.
    Figure.1 Distribution of lumbar vertebral body FF values in different age groups in males and females
    Figure.2 The scatter chart of correlation between lumbar body FF value and BMI. Figure A shows that the FF value of male lumbar vertebrae is moderately correlated with BMI (r=0.668, P=0.005). Figure B shows that the FF value of female lumbar vertebrae has no correlation with BMI (r=0.214, P=0.395).
  • Dual-energy CT-based bone marrow imaging in multiple myeloma: Assessment of focal lesions in relation to disease status and MRI findings
    Sebastian Werner1, Bernhard Krauss2, and Marius Horger1
    1Radiology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Germany, Tuebingen, Germany, 2Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim, Germany
    Virtual-non-calcium bone marrow imaging allows differentiation between active and inactive multiple myeloma. This is supported by a significant positive correlation between the attenuation and the ADC, as well as a corresponding inverse correlation to T1w signal intensity.

    Figure 2

    Example images of a 74 year old female patient with progressive multiple myeloma (first diagnosis 5 years and 3 months prior). The focal osteolytic lesion in the left dorsal iliac crest (arrow) is conspicuous in the CT as well as the VNCa image (mean VNCa attenuation 42.3 HU). In the T1w MRI image the lesion shows a homogeneous hypointense signal.

    Figure 3

    Example images of a 69 year old female patient with multiple myeloma in partial response (first diagnosis 3 years and 1 month prior). The focal osteolytic lesion in the right dorsal iliac crest is visible but not conspicuous in the CT image. The lesion is nicely depicted in the VNCa image (mean VNCa attenuation 7.6 HU). In the T1w MRI image the lesion shows moderate central hypointensity and a markedly hypointense rim which does not represent the typical appearance of an “active” lesion but is consistent with partial remission.

  • Quantitative Magnetization Transfer MRI of the Knee Meniscus: Correlations with Biochemistry and Histology
    Kirstin D Olsen1, Lumeng Cui1, Brennan E Berryman2, Ives R Levesque3, and Emily J McWalter2
    1Biomedical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, 2Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, 3Medical Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
    Quantitative magnetization transfer MRI was investigated in human cadaver menisci and weak correlations were found between T1f and the collagen content, T1f and histology score, and the histology scores and T2f and T2b. A moderate correlation was found between T2f and collagen content.  
    Table 1: Average qMT parameters (N=6 cadaver knee specimens) and biochemical content (N=70 excised cylindrical plugs). WM is wet mass
    Table 2: Frequency and percentage of each grade for human cadaver menisci samples (N=161). G1=normal tissue, G2=mild degeneration, G3=moderate degeneration, G4=severe degeneration
  • A multi-spectral imaging template of hip arthroplasty showing distribution of 3T vs. 1.5T artifacts in the acetabulum of varying implants
    Andrew S. Nencka1, Peter S. Johnson1, and Kevin M. Koch1
    1Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
    A template space for hip arthroplasty is presented with a proof of concept application quantifying the field-strength-related artifact associated with varying implant compositions.
    Spatial distribution of increased 3T artifact compared to 1.5T at the central template slice. All implants are shown in the top left, with metal-on-poly, ceramic, and metal-on-metal continuing in a clockwise direction. Metal-on-metal and ceramic implants represent the extrema of field-dependent differences in artifact.
    Evenly separated coronal slices of the left hip arthroplasty acetabular region template space.
  • Fast T1 Measurement of Cortical Bone using 3D Ultrashort Echo Time Actual Flip Angle Imaging and Single Repetition Time Acquisition (UTE-AFI-STR)
    Zhao Wei1,2,3, Hyungseok Jang1, Zubiad Ibrahim1, Mohammadamin Cheraghi1, Graeme M. Bydder1, Wenhui Yang2,3, and Ya-Jun Ma1
    1Department of Radiology, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States, 2Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
    The 3D UTE-AFI-STR method provides accurate T1 mapping of cortical bone with improved time efficiency as compared with UTE-AFI-VTR method.
    Figure 3. Representative ex vivo human cortical bone sample (first row) and in vivo tibial cortical bone T1 maps of four healthy volunteers (second to fifth row) generated using the UTE-AFI-VTR (first column), the sf-UTE-AFI-VTR (second column) and the UTE-AFI-STR (third column) methods. Similar appearances on the T1 maps are seen with each of the three methods.
    Figure 1. 3D UTE-based AFI and VTR sequences. The conventional 3D UTE sequence is used for multiple-TR data acquisition (a). The 3D UTE-AFI sequence acquires data with two interleaved TRs (TR1 and TR2) to generate B1 or Fz maps (b). Diagram of a single UTE unit in (a) and (b) shown in (c). In (c), a short rectangular RF pulse with a nominal TE of 32 μs is used for signal excitation and is followed by 3D spiral sampling. The spiral trajectories are arranged with 3D conical view ordering (d). RF = radiofrequency; DAW = data acquisition window.
  • Quantitative 7T MRI for Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis Progression in a Rabbit Model
    Rossana Terracciano1,2, Yareli Carcamo-Bahena1, Xiaowei Zou3, Joshua D. Harris4, Bradley Weiner4, John Scott Labis5, Nakul Gupta5, and Carly S. Filgueira1,6
    1Nanomedicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States, 2Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy, 3Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc, Malvern, PA, United States, 4Orthopedic Surgery, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States, 5Clinical Radiology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States, 6Cardiovascular Surgery, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States
    Our main findings were that optimized DESS and MP2RAGE sequences at 7T can be used for morphological and T1 quantitative assessment of PTOA progression, respectively, in an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) transection rabbit model.
    Cartilage segmentation and quantification using the optimized protocols on both knees of a healthy rabbit. (A) 3D map of the femoral (blue) and tibial (red) cartilage, right knee. (B) Cartilage thickness and volume quantification table, right knee. (C) Histograms of T1 values from each knee joint showing the bilateral similarity. (D) Relaxation map superimposed on one sagittal slice of DESS image.
    (A) T1 maps on sagittal axis for three different MP2RAGE test scan conditions (respectively: PAT factor 6, 3, 2, Echo Time: 3.85ms, 4.38ms, 4.38ms), superimposed on the morphological DESS. ROIs are drawn in the cartilage 3-dimensionally using a semi-automatic algorithm for segmentation on the DESS images. (B) Calculated T1 values for three different MP2RAGE test scan conditions.
  • Quantitative T2 mapping MRI near metal: comparison of metal artifact reduction techniques
    Takayuki Sakai1,2, Masami Yoneyama3, Atsuya Watanabe4,5, Daichi Murayama1, Shigehiro Ochi1, and Tosiaki Miyati6
    1Radiology, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Tonage, Japan, 2Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, 3Philips Japan, Tokyo, Japan, 4General Medical Services, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan, 5Orthopaedic Surgery, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Chiba, Japan, 6Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
    We evaluated the usefulness of T2 mapping using VAT or SEMAC for cartilage around the knee joint that was metal-fixed after surgery. T2 mapping by Multi-echo TSE combining VAT on the cartilage near metal after surgery was effective in reducing standard deviation of T2 values and metal artifacts.

    Fig.4 T2 mapping of knee cartilage near metal plate in the tibial plateau (patient 2).

    ME, Multi-echo; DE, Dual-echo

    Fig.3 T2 mapping of knee cartilage near metal plate in the tibial plateau (patient 1).

    ME, Multi-echo; DE, Dual-echo

  • Monitoring the efficacy of TNF-α antagonists in the treatment of SpA preliminary study based on MRI biochemical Imaging technique
    Yu Shun1, Lin Min-gui1, Zhongshuai Zhang2, Chen Xian-yuan1, and Ma Mingping1
    1Radiology department, Fujian Provincial Hospital, fuzhou, China, 2Diagnostic Imaging, SIEMENS Healthcare, Shanghai, China
    This study indicates that T1-mapping technique is preferred in quantitative diagnosis. T1-mapping is superior to T2*-mapping and T2-mapping in the diagnosis of subchondral bone marrow edema of the SpA sacroiliac joint. It can provide quantitative monitoring of inflammatory changes during treatment, which is beneficial to clinical individualized treatment and timely adjustment of the treatment plan.
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Digital Poster Session - Quantitative MRI II
Musculoskeletal
Thursday, 20 May 2021 19:00 - 20:00
  • Vertebral bone marrow water T2 is sex-dependent and negatively correlated with age and the proton density fat fraction (PDFF)
    Stefan Ruschke1, Jan Syväri1, Michael Dieckmeyer2, Daniela Junker1, Marcus R. Makowski1, Thomas Baum2, and Dimitrios C. Karampinos1
    1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, 2Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
    Vertebral bone marrow water T2 assessed by single-voxel multi-TE STEAM MRS showed a significant sex-dependence and a negative correlation with age and PDFF.
    Figure 3: Results from the linear regression analysis for the female (red) and male (blue) sub-cohort for a) water T2 vs age, b) water T2 vs. PDFF and c) PDFF vs. age. Water T2 as a function of both age (a) and PDFF (b) was longer in females when compared to the males. Furthermore, water T2 showed a negative correlation with both age (a) and PDFF (b) for both sexes.

    Figure 2: Example real spectra including the obtained signal model fitting (fitted model and residual signal): a) 38-year-old female (BMI: 31.3 kg/m2, water T2: 33.3 ms, PDFF: 40%) and b) 66-year-old male (BMI: 38.6 kg/m2, water T2: 13.9 ms, PDFF: 49%). In the spectra in a) the water peak (4.67 ppm) is more pronounced (lower PDFF and shorter water T2) in comparison to the spectra in b).

  • Quantitative Assessment of cartilage composition using MR T1ρ and T2 imaging 10 years Post ACL-Reconstruction
    John P. Murray1,2,3, Richard Lartey1,3, Jeehun Kim1,3, Mei Li1,3, Sibaji Gaj1,3, Brendan Eck1,4, Donxing Xie1,3, Carl Winalski1,3,4, Faysal Altahawi3,4, Morgan H. Jones3,5, Bruce M Damon6, Laura J Huston7, Huyen T. Nguyen8, Michael V Knopp8, Kurt P. Spindler3,5, and Xiaojuan Li1,3,4
    1Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 2Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States, 3Program of Advanced Musculoskeletal Imaging (PAMI), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 4Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Imaging Inst., Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 5Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Orthopaedics and Rheumatology Inst., Cleveland, OH, United States, 6Dept. of Radiology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, 7Dept. of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, 8Dept. of Radiology, Wright Ctr. Of Innovation in BioMed. Imaging, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
    In a multi-vendor multi-site prospective study, significantly elevated cartilage MR T1ρ and T2 were observed in operated knees as compared to the contra-lateral knees at 10 years after ACL reconstruction.
    Table 2. T1ρ values (in ms) of patients in the operated and contralateral knees. Significantly elevated T1ρ were observed in LFC, LT, MFC and MT.
    Table 3. T2 values (in ms) of patients in the operated and contralateral knees. Significantly elevated T1ρ were observed in MFC, MT and TRO.
  • How radiology and clinical severity of knee osteoarthritis correlate: Analysis with cartilage T1rho and T2 values, WORMS, and K-L grade
    Woo Young Kang1, Suk-Joo Hong1, Jinwoo Han1, Yoonmi Choi1, Chang Ho Kang2, Kyung-sik Ahn2, Baek Hyun Kim3, and Euddeum Shim3
    1Radiology, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 2Radiology, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 3Radiology, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Korea, Republic of
    Statistically significant correlations were revealed between WORMS features and K-L grade in MFTJ and total joint, pain (VAS) and R1rho value in MFC, and pain (VAS) and BME in intercondylar area.
    In order to place the ROIs in the same locations on both T1ρ and T2 maps, ROIs were drawn manually on the PD weighted images and automatically copy –pasted on to T1ρ and T2 maps. The automatically measured T1ρ, R1ρ and T2 TRs of each ROI were plotted in Microsoft Excel. All of image processing described above was performed using software in Matlab (Mathworks, Natick, MA) that was developed and implemented in-house.
    In the analysis of the association between VAS and T1ρ, R1ρ and T2 values, VAS was significantly correlated and negatively with the R1 ρ values in central and posterior portion of MFC.
  • The diagnostic value of a new indicator in the chronic anterior cruciate ligament injury based on Ultra-Short Echo imaging
    Yanjun Hu1, Cheng Xu1, Yexin He1, Ruizhu Wang1, and Kaiyu Wang2
    1Magnetic Resonance Center, Shanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Taiyuan, China, 2MR Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China
    POS derived from UTE can be used to reflect the degree of chronic ACL injury and shows better performance than IKDC
    Figure 2. a:The comparison of POS between injured and uninjured group. *P<0.05. b: The comparison of POS-injury among 3 groups (Group 1: negative, Group 2: positive,Group 3:severe positive). * vs Group 1, P<0.05; # vs Group 2, P<0.05.
    Figure 3. a:The Pearson’s correlation between POS-injury and IKDC-jnjury. b: The Pearson’s correlation between POS-injury and KT1000.
  • Repeatability and orientation dependence of ultrashort echo time (UTE) T2* mapping at 3T for the whole knee
    Zhenzhou Wu1, Stefan Sommer2,3, Xiaodong Zhong4, Kecheng Liu4, Jeehun Kim1, Jillian Beveridge1, Xiaoliang Zhang5, and Xiaojuan Li1
    1Program of Advanced Musculoskeletal Imaging (PAMI), Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 2Siemens Healthcare, Zurich, Switzerland, 3Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging (SCMI), Balgrist Campus, Zurich, Switzerland, 4Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Malvern, PA, United States, 5Department of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States
    To evaluate the repeatability of UTE T2*, and to investigate and compare the orientation dependence of T2* mapping between UTE and regular gradient echo (GRE) imaging sequences for whole knee imaging
    Figure 2. The 4 echoes of UTE and 6 echoes of GRE images with different TE of extended (a and b) and flexed (c and d) knee. The corresponding T2* mapping shown in e), f), g), and h) respectively.
    Table 3. In vivo repeatability and comparison of UTE and GRE T2* relaxation time (in ms) of each compartment for both extended and flexed knee joint.
  • Three dimensional adiabatic T1ρ prepared ultrashort echo time Cones (3D UTE-Cones-AdiabT1ρ) imaging of knee joint degeneration
    Mei Wu1,2, Yajun Ma1, Guanyuan Ning2, Saeed Jerban1, Yanping Xue1, Zhao Wei1, Eric Y Chang1,3, and Jiang Du1
    1Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States, 2Department of Radiology, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China, 3Radiology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, United States
    The 3D-UTE-Cones-AdiabT1ρ sequence allow quantitative imaging of articular cartilage in the knee joint. The 3D-UTE-Cones-AdiabT1ρ values are positively correlated with WORMS and KL scores, and significantly different in different extent and depth lesions of cartilage. 
    Figure 2. Excellent T1ρ modeling is achieved for both normal cartilage (A, C) (T1ρ=32.3ms) and abnormal cartilage (B, D) (WORMS=2, T1ρ=40.8ms).
    Figure 4. Boxplot of UTE-Cones-AdiabT1ρ values in different WORMS depth groups
  • Evaluation of Dixon MRI Methods for Quantitative Assessment of Thigh Muscle Fatty Infiltration in Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
    Brendan L. Eck1,2, Richard Lartey1,3, Dongxing Xie1,3, Jeehun Kim1,3, Carl S. Winalski1,2,3, Bruce M. Damon4, Xiaodong Zhong5, Kecheng Liu5, Dimitris Karampinos6, Faysal Altahawi1,2, Morgan H. Jones1,7, Kurt P. Spindler1,7, and Xiaojuan Li1,2,3
    1Program of Advanced Musculoskeletal Imaging, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 2Diagnostic Radiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 3Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, 4Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, 5MR R&D Collaborations, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Malvern, PA, United States, 6Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, 7Orthopaedic Surgery, Orthopaedics and Rheumatology Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States
    Monopolar gradient acquisition and magnitude-based processing improved fat fraction estimates. Vendor-independent magnitude-based processing and vendor inline processing quantified elevated hamstring muscle fat fraction in ACL-reconstructed legs.
    Table 1. Comparison of average fat fraction in hamstrings muscles in the injured leg (HI) versus the contralateral leg (HC) across acquisition and quantification methods. Bold and italics indicate statistically significant difference in FF (p<0.05). Other muscle groups (quadriceps, other) were similarly compared but no significant differences were observed. In patients with hamstring autograft (right), substantial fatty infiltration was observed (red arrow).
    Figure 2. Fat fraction (FF) maps from quantification methods (rows) for phantom and control at supine and prone positions (columns). Artifact is present in FattyRiot with complex processing, which appears to be position-dependent as it is similar across supine and prone orientations. Monopolar gradient with complex processing appears to reduce the amplitude of the artifact, but the pattern persists. Inline bipolar and FattyRiot monopolar magnitude are most consistent between subject positions.
  • Improvement of distortion-free diffusion tensor imaging of lumbar nerve roots using direct coronal MultiVane-SPLICE diffusion-weighted MRI.
    Takayuki Sakai1,2, Masami Yoneyama3, Atsuya Watanabe4,5, Daichi Murayama1, Shigehiro Ochi1, and Tosiaki Miyati6
    1Radiology, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Tonage, Japan, 2Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, 3Philips Japan, Tokyo, Japan, 4General Medical Services, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan, 5Orthopaedic Surgery, Eastern Chiba Medical Center, Chiba, Japan, 6Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
    SPLICE was combined with MultiVane (known as PROPELLER) which is to sample k-space in a rotating fashion using a set of radially directed blades. In this study, we evaluated the effect of accuracy and reproducibility of the quantitative values in lumbar nerve roots using MultiVane-SPLICE-DTI.

    Fig.2 Comparison of SNR and FA values between SPLICE-DTI with MultiVane-SPLICE-DTI.

    Partial Maximum Intensity Projection image (20mm thickness) shows on A (SPLICE-DTI) and B (MultiVane-SPLICE-DTI).

    Fig.3 Comparison of ICC (inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability) between SPLICE-DTI with MultiVane-SPLICE-DTI in 3 healthy volunteers.
  • Can acquisition of pretreatment IVIM parameters in tumor predict the outcomes of osteosarcoma treated by chemotherapy? A preliminary study
    Esha Baidya Kayal1, Devasenathipathy Kandasamy2, Kedar Khare3, Raju Sharma2, Sameer Bakhshi4, and Amit Mehndiratta1,5
    1Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India, 2Department of Radio diagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, New Delhi, India, 3Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India, 4Department of Medical Oncology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute-Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, New Delhi, India, 5Department of Biomedical Engineering, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, New Delhi, India
    Quantitative IVIM parameters may be useful for predicting outcome in patients with localized osteosarcoma. Histogram parameter 25th-percentile of D* and serum albumin level were found to have significant association with event-free-survival among patients.
    Figure 1: Kaplan-Meier survival curves of the event-free-survival (EFS) demonstrate differences in patients in outcome (a) D*-25th percentile and (b) Albumin. The significant differences are 0.0081 and 0.027 respectively by log-rank test.
    .
  • Evaluation of Lumbar Disc Herniation Using Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetization Transfer in Posterior Longitudinal Ligament and Nucleus Pulposus
    Jianwei Liao1, Jin Liu1, Yajun Ma2, Xiaojun Chen1, Wei Li1, Lin Yao1, Long Qian3, Jiang Du2, and Shaolin Li1
    1Department of Radiology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China, 2Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States, 3MR Research, GE Healthcare, Guangzhou, China
    The high UTE-MTR of posterior longitudinal ligament and nucleus pulposus associate with more severe lumbar disc herniation in patients. The UTE-MTR of posterior longitudinal ligament and nucleus pulposus may be a promising biomarker to predict early disc herniation in lumbar spine.
    Figure 1: UTE-MT imaging in lumbar of a 63‐year‐old male volunteer. Figure A: UTE-MT-ON; Figure B: UTE-MT-OFF; Figure C: UTE-MTR map
    Figure 2: Correlation between disc herniation and (A) posterior longitudinal ligament, (B) nucleus pulposus UTE-MTR in 50 subjects.
  • Imaging Sign Of Edema As A Possible Diagnostic Aid For Lateral Lumbar Spinal Canal Stenosis
    Shi Yin1, Dou Weiqiang2, and Ding Hongyuan1
    1The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China, 2GE Healthcare, MR Research, Beijing, P.R. China, Beijing, China
    Based on the characteristic pathological change of nerve root edema in extraspinal sub-regions, conventional MR combined with quantitative MR DTI/DTT has a good performance for visualizing and quantitative diagnosis in lateral lumbar spinal canal stenosis.
    The DTT abnormalities of symptomatic nerves can be classified into color hue reduction (a), sparse (b) and interruption (c). The visual abnormalities of tractography were found mainly in the extraforaminal (34 cases, 34.3%) and extraspinal (57 cases, 57.6%) region of compressed nerves.
    The ROC curve for nerve edema had the highest AUC of 0.929 (95% CI 0.884 - 0.961); the cut point showed sensitivity and specificity of 85.9% and 100%, respectively. In addition to this, the ROC curve for distal FA and nerve diameter both had AUCs >0.80.
  • Assessment of Osteoporosis in Human Lumbar Using 3D Adiabatic Inversion Recovery Prepared Ultrashort TE Cones Sequence
    Jin Liu1, Yajun Ma2, Jianwei Liao1, Xiaojun Chen1, Wei Li1, Lin Yao1, Long Qian3, Jiang Du2, and Shaolin Li1
    1Department of Radiology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China, 2Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States, 3MR Research, GE Healthcare, Guangzhou, China
    It was concluded that IR-UTE was positively correlated to QCT and DXA, and was negative correlated to FRAX scores. The 3D IR-UTE measures demonstrated good performance in the differentiation of normal, osteopenia and osteoporosis.  
    Figure 1: In vivo qualitative and quantitative imaging of the lumbar of a 56-year-old female volunteer using the 3D IR-UTE sequence. Figure A: ROI in the phantom; Figure B: ROI in the lumbar vertebrae; Figure C: The proton density map of the spine trabecular bone.
    Figure 2: Linear regression in 30 subjects between (A) IR-UTE measured PD and QCT, (B) IR-UTE measured PD and DXA, and (C) IR-UTE measured PD and FRAX score.
  • B1 Field Inhomogeneity Correction for qDESS T2 Mapping: Application to Rapid Bilateral Knee Imaging
    Marco Barbieri1, Lauren Watkins1,2, Arjun D. Desai1,3, Valentina Mazzoli1, Elka Rubin1, Andrew Schmidt1, Garry E. Gold1,2, Brian A. Hargreaves1,2,3, Akshay S. Chaudhari1,4, and Feliks Kogan1
    1Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 2Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 3Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 4Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
    B1-correction for qDESS T2 mapping corrected for between-sample pair differences in the T2-phantom. In-vivo results showed that B1-correction can mitigate variations driven by the sensitivity of the T2 mapping method to B1 instead of reflecting biological changes.
    Fig.3:Example of comparison between the left and right T2 maps of FC where B1 differs substantially between the left and right knee. Each row displays the quantitative parameter (B1 and T2 in the top and bottom panels, respectively) 2D unrolled projections of FC for the left and the mirrored right knee along with their pixel-wise difference and the BA plots between left and right parameter values in the six FC sub-regions. Overall, there is a relatively high difference between B1 in the left and right knee. Applying the B1 correction improves the expected symmetry in T2.
    Fig.1:Schematization of the pipeline used to process the longitudinal in-vivo bilateral acquisitions. Each time-point was registered to the baseline. The FC was manually segmented at the baseline time-point. For each time-point, the open-source DOSMA framework9 was used to compute T2 map with and without B1 correction and to visualize the 3D segmented volume projected onto a 2D space2. The FC was automatically sub-divided into 3 different layers (total, deep and superficial) and 6 sub-regions (anterior/central/posterior for the medial/lateral sides).
  • Denoising Meniscus T2* Mapping In College Basketball Players
    Ek T Tan1, Erin C Argentieri1, Madeleine A Gao1, John Neri1, Garry E Gold2, Sharmila Majumdar3, Hollis G Potter1, and Matthew F Koff1
    1Radiology and Imaging, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, United States, 2Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 3University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
    T2* mapping with UTE may provide increased sensitivity to subclinical changes in the collagen matrix of menisci. Denoising of high-resolution, low-SNR images can reduce variance of T2* maps, leading to improved qMRI.
    Fig.1. (a) UTE (TE=30ms) images, showing reduced noise with PCA and MDPCA, and (b) improved fitting error with MDPCA in the T2* maps of cropped region corresponding to dashed box region (arrow – posterior horn of medial meniscus).
    Table 1. Paired Comparisons of Mean T2* and Coefficient of Variation (CoV) for MEM, PCA-denoising and MD+PCA-denoising Algorithms. Note: * = p < 0.05.
  • Changes in meniscus T2 relaxation times due to acute exercise in individuals with knee osteoarthritis
    Ananya Goyal1, Garry Gold1, Feliks Kogan1, and Lauren Watkins1
    1Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
    Acute exercise did not affect the meniscal T2 relaxation times in subjects with OA. However, there were significant changes when assessing the maximal regional T2 change in the medial or lateral menisci of exercised subjects, which may be impacted by knee loading.
    T2 relaxation times of the menisci, both medial and lateral, of healthy volunteers were projected to a 2D plane to create T2 relaxation time maps. The map for Post-exercise was registered to Pre-exercise using Elastix. The mean T2 relaxation time in the medial and lateral menisci, as well as across both the menisci, was calculated.
    T2 relaxation times were averaged across both the lateral and medial menisci. There was no significant difference in the average T2 relaxation times between pre-exercise and post-exercise scans for the Exercised and Rested groups. The Exercised leg group had slightly lower T2 times than the Rested group for both scans, but these differences were not statistically significant (p=0.96 for Pre-exercise and p=0.29 for Post-exercise).
  • Kinematic MRI Tracking of Wrist Carpal Bones
    Mohammad Zarenia1, Volkan Emre Arpinar1, Andrew S. Nencka1, L. Tugan Muftuler2, and Kevin M. Koch1
    1Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
    Through the use of an advanced 4D MRI acquisition technique and a novel boundary-based slab-to-volume registration approach, the feasibility of kinematic metric tracking of unconstrained wrist motion is demonstrated. 
    Visualization of the fixed and the resulting registered volumes of Scaphoid and Lunate. The black lines depict the boundaries of the moving frames.
    Kinematic profile of radial-ulnar deviation of scaphoid-lunate (SL) interval; (a) SL interval constructed by navigating two stablished points at the boundaries of the fixed images. (b) SL Center of Mass (COM) distance.
  • Whole-body MRI reveals the burden of unsuspected synovitis in juvenile idiopathic arthritis
    Varvara Choida1,2, Timothy J.P. Bray1,3, Alan Bainbridge4, Debajit Sen2,5, Corinne Fisher2,5, Maria Leandro2,5, Coziana Ciurtin2,5, and Margaret Hall-Craggs1,3
    1Centre for Medical Imaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 2Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology Versus Arthritis at UCL UCLH and GOSH, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 3Radiology, University College London Hospital, London, United Kingdom, 4Medical Physics, University College London Hospitals, London, United Kingdom, 5Adolescent and young adult Rheumatology, University College London Hospital, London, United Kingdom
    We developed a whole-body MRI protocol, consisting of post-contrast mDixon images, which revealed a large burden of clinically undetected synovitis in 32 adolescent patients with clinically active and inactive juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
    Figure 4. Synovitis detected by MRI in clinically inactive joints versus clinical synovitis. Values represent number of joints per patient. In many patients, there are additional joints with synovitis on MRI that were clinically unsuspected.
    Figure 1. Bilateral elbow and right knee synovitis on post-contrast, water-only Dixon MR image (whole-body view).
  • Gadolinium-Free Assessment of Synovitis Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging
    Halston J.C. Sandford1, James W. MacKay2, Lauren E. Watkins1,3, Garry E. Gold1,3,4, Feliks Kogan1, and Valentina Mazzoli1
    1Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 2University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, 3Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 4Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
    DTI is a promising tool for assessing intensity of synovitis in osteoarthritic knees without the use of gadolinium-based contrast agent, indicated by strong associations of the DTI parameters (MD and FA) with the DCE-MRI parameter Ktrans.
    Figure 3: Within the whole synovium, (a) MD had a significant positive correlation with Ktrans and (b) FA had a significant negative correlation. For each standard deviation increase in Ktrans, MD increased by 1.3x10-4 mm2/s (approximately 7% of the median MD value) and FA decreased by 0.020 (approximately 6% of the median FA value).
    Figure 4: Correlations between the diffusion parameters (MD and FA) and Ktrans within the 67 osteophyte-adjacent ROIs (defined as the intersection of the synovium segmentation and manually drawn regions around each osteophyte). (a) MD did not have a significant correlation with Ktrans (r = 077, p = 0.82) but (b) FA had a strong and significant negative correlation (r = -0.78, p = 0.0041).
  • Optimizing the use of diffusion tensor imaging for clinical tractography of the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee
    Allen A Champagne1,2, Don Brien2, Andrew McGuire3, Paul Fenton4, Yousef A Marwan5, Paul A Martineau5, and Davide D Bardana3
    1School of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, 2Center for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, 3Orthopedic Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, 4Diagnostic Radiology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, 5Orthopedic Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
    Diffusion tensor imaging of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) should favor multiband acquisitions, as they provide higher spatial resolution, lower echo time, shorter scan time and improved ACL tractography, compared to traditional methods.

    Figure 5. Results from the fiber-based probabilistic tractography and Dice Coefficient analysis

    Sagittal slices of the diffusion weighted images (grayscale) are displayed and overlaid with the resampled regions of interest (green, see Figure 2), as well as the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (cyan blue), estimated based on fiber-based probabilistic tractography. Both segmentation reconstructions are shown including voxels traversed by the two (left), or either (right), tractograms.

    Figure 3. Three-dimensional high resolution structural imaging of the left knee

    Three views (sagittal, coronal and axial) of the Double Echo Steady State (DESS) scan are shown highlighting the healthy anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) for this patient (top). The middle and bottom views show the placement of the region of interest seeds within the tibia and femur insertions of the ACL (green), as well as the manual segmentation of the ligament (blue) used for assessment of the tractography outputs.

  • Assessment of Synovitis in Osteoarthritis Using Non-Contrast Quantitative DESS
    Jacob Thoenen1, James W. MacKay2,3, Kathryn J. Stevens1, Tom D. Turmezei4, Akshay Chaudhari1, Lauren E. Watkins1, Emily J. McWalter5, Brian A. Hargreaves1, Garry E. Gold1, and Feliks Kogan1
    1Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, 2Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 3Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, 4Department of Radiology, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich, United Kingdom, 5Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
    The quantitative double echo in steady state (qDESS) sequence shows good agreement to contrast-enhanced MRI for characterization of the severity of synovitis.
    Table 2: Agreement between qDESS and CE-MRI using Gwet's AC2 (95% LOA) for readers overall impression of synovitis and regional gradings
    Figure 1: Example cases where radiologists tended to agree on severity of synovitis on CE-MRI, qDESSLow, and qDESSHigh. In the sagittal MR images of the suprapatellar pouch, mild uniform synovial thickening is demonstrated without obvious nodularity (grade 1). In the axial MR images of the medial and lateral recess, synovial thickening is more conspicuous with the suggestion of nodularity in the lateral recess images (grade 2). In the sagittal intercondylar notch images, there is nodular synovial enhancement anterior to the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus (grade 2)