Updates on Compositional MRI Mapping of the Cartilage: Emerging Techniques and Applications

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 58; no. 1; pp. 44 - 60
• Main Authors: Zibetti, Marcelo V. W., Menon, Rajiv G., Moura, Hector L., Zhang, Xiaoxia, Kijowski, Richard, Regatte, Ravinder R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2023; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: accelerated relaxometry; Biomarkers; Cartilage; Cartilage diseases; Cartilage, Articular - diagnostic imaging; Cartilage, Articular - pathology; compressed sensing; Deep learning; Fingerprinting; Humans; Image reconstruction; Image segmentation; Joint diseases; Longitudinal Studies; magnetic resonance fingerprinting; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Medical imaging; Musculoskeletal System; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee - pathology; quantitative mapping; Soft tissues; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; accelerated relaxometry; deep learning; magnetic resonance fingerprinting; compressed sensing; quantitative mapping
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.28689

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widely occurring degenerative joint disease that is severely debilitating and causes significant socioeconomic burdens to society. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred imaging modality for the morphological evaluation of cartilage due to its excellent soft tissue contrast and high spatial resolution. However, its utilization typically involves subjective qualitative assessment of cartilage. Compositional MRI, which refers to the quantitative characterization of cartilage using a variety of MRI methods, can provide important information regarding underlying compositional and ultrastructural changes that occur during early OA. Cartilage compositional MRI could serve as early imaging biomarkers for the objective evaluation of cartilage and help drive diagnostics, disease characterization, and response to novel therapies. This review will summarize current and ongoing state‐of‐the‐art cartilage compositional MRI techniques and highlight emerging methods for cartilage compositional MRI including MR fingerprinting, compressed sensing, multiexponential relaxometry, improved and robust radio‐frequency pulse sequences, and deep learning‐based acquisition, reconstruction, and segmentation. The review will also briefly discuss the current challenges and future directions for adopting these emerging cartilage compositional MRI techniques for use in clinical practice and translational OA research studies. Evidence Level 2 Technical Efficacy Stage 2.