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Abstract #0432

Assessment of Degradation of Proteoglycans and Matrix Proteins in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration by Diffusion Weighted MRS

Anna M. WANG1, 2, Peng Cao1, 2, Jian Yang3, Ed X. Wu1, 2

1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; 2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong , China; 3Department of Radiology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shanxi, China

This study investigated the capability of diffusion weighted magnetic resonance spectroscopy (DW-MRS) for assessing the changes in carbohydrates region (3.5-4.2ppm) during intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Our experimental results demonstrated that spectral contamination of carbohydrate resonances by overlapping water peak could be effectively suppressed by diffusion weighting due to the fast water diffusion (compared to macromolecules). More importantly, we demonstrated that non-water diffusion measurement could detect proteoglycan and disc matrix protein breakdowns during disc degeneration. Such diffusion spectroscopy approval can constitute a new and useful tool for early IVDD detection and mechanistic understanding of IVDD.

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Keywords

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