Jose G. Raya1,2, Andreas Biffar, Annie Horng3, Olaf Dietrich, Yuko Fukuda4, Maximilian Felix Reiser3, Christian Glaser3
1Josef Lissner Laboratory for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany; 2Josef Lissner Laboratory for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany; 3Department of Clinical Raciology-Grohadern, Universisty of Munich; 4Department of Clinical Raciology-Grohadern, University of Munich
A new method for the assessment of the evolution of pathology at a voxel-basis in articular cartilage is proposed. The method bases in the detection of statistically significant changes in T2 in follow-up examinations. Datasets acquired at different times are first registered. For each voxel the differences in T2 are tested for significance using reproducibility data acquired in repeated examinations in patients and OA patients. Significant differences can be classified in 6 different evolutions, which provide new diagnostic information. The utility of the method is demonstrated in follow up examinations on 5 autologous chondrocyte transplantated patients.