Aman Gupta1,2, Weiguo Li1, Glenn
T. Stebbins1,3, Richard L. Magin1, Vincent M. Wang1,2
1Department of Bioengineering,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; 2Department
of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, United
States; 3Department of Neurosciences, Rush University Medical
Center, Chicago, IL, United States
Low
grade tendon and ligament injuries are challenging to delineate on
conventional MRI. This study presents results of 11.74T DTI analyses of
rabbit MCL ligament and SemiT tendon. FA and MD(x10-6 mm2/s) values for
SemiTs (n=6) were 0.66 and 1388, respectively, and for MCLs (n=4) were 0.47
and 1255. 3D tractography graphically depicted the spatial distribution of
parallel, well organized collagen bundles. To our knowledge, this is the
first study that investigates the microstructure of these tissue types using
3D DTI at high magnetic field. High Field DTI provides more rigorous data
regarding tissue structural integrity compared to conventional MRI.