Investigation of laminar appearance of articular cartilage by means of magnetic resonance microscopy

• Published in: Magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 435 - 442
• Main Authors: Mlynárik, Vladimír, Degrassi, Anna, Toffanin, Renato, Vittur, Franco, Cova, Maria, Pozzi-Mucelli, Roberto S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 1996; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animals; Articular cartilage; Biological and medical sciences; Cartilage, Articular - anatomy & histology; Femur Head - anatomy & histology; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic resonance microscopy, MRI; Magnetization transfer; Medical sciences; Microscopy; Osteoarticular system. Muscles; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; Relaxation; Shoulder Joint - anatomy & histology; Swine; Relaxation; Magnetization transfer; Magnetic resonance microscopy, MRI; Articular cartilage; Human; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Magnetization; Animal; Transfer; Artiodactyla; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Ungulata; Pig
• ISSN: 0730-725X; 1873-5894
• DOI: 10.1016/0730-725X(96)00025-2

Magnetic resonance (MR) images and relaxation and diffusion maps of articular cartilage were obtained to explain discrepancies in its MR appearance. Porcine specimens were studied only by MR microscopy. For human specimens a combination of MR microscopy and large-scale MR imaging was used. Common features in the laminar structures of human and porcine samples are described. It was found that the decay of transverse magnetization was nonexponential with a rapidly decaying component which prevented construction of reliable proton-density maps. Dependence of T 2 values on the orientation of specimens in the magnetic field as well as magnetization transfer experiments supported the previous suggestions about a significant role of dipolar interaction with protons of collagen in the laminar appearance of articular cartilage. The loss of the laminar structure induced by rotation of the human cartilage specimen around the axis normal to its surface demonstrated nonuniform angular distribution of the collagen fibers within the layer.