Abstract #0824

T2 Maps and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Knee Cartilage with a DESS Sequence at 3T

Ernesto Staroswiecki^1,2, Kristin Lee Granlund^1,2, Marcus Tedrow Alley¹, Garry Evan Gold¹, Brian Andrew Hargreaves¹

¹Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ²Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Detailed visualization of articular cartilage is a challenge that requires advanced MRI techniques. In order to detect early changes of osteoarthritis, we require contrast mechanisms capable of showing biochemical properties of cartilage like T2-mapping and diffusion-weighted-imaging. Here we study the diffusion sensitivity of the T2 maps of cartilage generated with a DESS sequence, and present a method for generating T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted images, together with T2 maps and relative-ADC maps of cartilage via two sequential DESS acquisitions with different gradient amplitudes.