An application of algebraic method on MR T2 imaging of knee articular cartilage

The computation of relaxation time from quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging depends on the applied algorithms. The purpose of this project was to use the algebraic curve fitting algorithm to quantify T2 mapping of knee articular cartilage for T2 relaxation time calculation. The T2 images of a healthy male volunteer´s right knee tibiofemoral joint cartilage were generated by a 3T MR imaging scanner using a spin echo multislice multiecho (MSME) Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence. The medial and lateral condyle cartilage regions were further subdivided into three compartments - anterior, middle and posterior for identifying T2 values variation in between them. The T2 relaxation time mean and standard deviation in each region of interest (ROI) was calculated using the algebraic fitting algorithm and compared with conventional nonlinear algorithms. The results show that the algebraic fitting algorithm is feasible for T2 relaxation time calculation of knee tibiofemoral condyle cartilage. It is not only clear but also sensitive to T2 MR imaging of knee articular cartilage.