Elli-Noora Salo1,
Jari Rautiainen2, 3, Virpi Tiitu4, Mikko
A.J. Finnil5, Olli-Matti Aho6, Petri Lehenkari6,
Jutta Maria Ellermann7, Simo Saarakkala5, Mikko J.
Nissi7, 8, Miika T. Nieminen1, 3
1Department
of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; 2Department
of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; 3Department
of Radiology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; 4Institute of
Biomedicine, Anatomy, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; 5Department
of Medical Technology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; 6Department
of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; 7Center
for Magnetic Resonance Research and Department of Radiology, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; 8Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Various quantitative MRI markers have been proposed for the quantitative assessment of articular cartilage degeneration. In this study, the sensitivity of T1, T1Gd, T2, magnetization transfer ratio MTR, continuous-wave (CW) T1&[rho], adiabatic T1&[rho] and T2&[rho], TRAFF and T1 in the presence of saturation (T1sat) to cartilage degeneration was investigated by correlating the MRI parameters with histopathological OARSI grade. ROC analysis revealed high AUCs (0.86-1.00) for all parameters except for MTR. Similarly, good correlation with OARSI grade and MRI parameters were established apart form MTR. Cartilage degeneration was most sensitively detected with TRAFF and T1Gd.