Mina Kim1, Queenie Chan2, Marina-Portia Anthony1, Dino Samartzis3, Kenneth MC Cheung3, Pek-Lan Khong1
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China; 2Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong; 3Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to improve the diagnosis and management of patients with intervertebral disc (IVD) related disorders. Multiparametric MRI offers the possibility of noninvasively assessing multiple aspects of pathophysiological processes that exist simultaneously, thereby further assisting in patient treatment management. The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between relaxation parameters (T1ρ and T2), diffusion properties including fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and various clinical findings in human IVD. Our results suggest that each parameter may attribute different sensitivity to tissue properties.