Abstract #1555

Quantitative susceptibility mapping of articular cartilage at different orientations to investigate susceptibility anisotropy

Olli Juhani Nykänen¹, Juha Töyräs^1,2, Ville Kolehmainen¹, Lassi Rieppo³, Simo Saarakkala³, Karin Shmueli⁴, and Mikko Johannes Nissi^1,2

¹Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, ²Diagnostic Imaging Center, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland, ³Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, University of Oulu, ⁴Department of Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering, University College London

In this study we examined ex-vivo bovine articular cartilage using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Our purpose was to find a reliable QSM measurement and estimation protocol and then study how different enzymatic and chemical degradations affect the susceptibility of articular cartilage, in order to establish the feasibility of QSM for the assessment of articular cartilage. Treatments by trypsin (to degrade proteoglycans) and EDTA (to remove calcifications) were found to have minimal effects on the susceptibility. However, a significant depth-wise anisotropy of susceptibility in cartilage was observed. Further studies are warranted to investigate the susceptibility changes in cartilage.

This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.

Join Here