Validation of a Clinical Protocol for DTI of Articular Cartilage in Whole Knee Specimen Using a New Method for One-To-One Correlation of DTI with Histology

Jose G. Raya¹, Tony Wong¹, You Jin Lee², Christian Glaser¹, Thorsten Kirsch²

In vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the articular cartilage has demonstrated high accuracy (90%) for the early diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA). However, DTI data acquired with a clinical scanner needs further histological validation in conditions mimicking the in vivo acquisition. The aim of this work is to introduce a new method for one to one correlation of DTI and histology on whole knee specimens measured in the same conditions as in vivo acquisition. Our data indicate potential of DTI to detect damaged cartilage with OARSI grade 2 or higher.