Ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI can be used for quantitative assessment of compressive tissues in knee joint such as articular cartilage (AC) and meniscus. In osteoarthritis, the mechanical properties of AC and menisci are altered prior to gross morphological changes. In this study, magnetization transfer UTE imaging (UTE-MT) with two-pool modelling was used to detect deformation levels of AC and meniscus under load. Compression resulted in significant increases of macromolecular fraction (MMF) in AC and menisci of young, but not elderly donors. Our results indicate that biomechanical changes vary with age and can be detected with UTE-MT MRI.
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