Delphine Pri1,2, Maximilien Recuerda1,3,
Guillaume Gilbert4, Gilles Beaudoin5
1Mechanical Engineering, Ecole
Polytechnique de Montral, Montral, Qubec, Canada; 2Research
Center, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montral, Qubec, Canada; 3Reserach
Center, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montral, Qubec, Canada; 4Philips
Healthcare, Montral, Qubec, Canada; 5Physics & Biomedical Engineering,
CHUM Notre Dame, Montral, Qubec, Canada
We hypothesed that the compressive modulus and hydraulic permeability of the intervertebral disc can be explained by a combination of MRI parameters. Mechanical properties from unconfined compression tests, confined compression tests and direct measurements of permeability, and MRI properties from quantitative T1, T2, ADC, FA and MT acquisitions were evaluated on in-situ and digested bovine isolated discs. Relationships were found between axial or radial hydraulic permeability and quantitative MRI parameters. The changes induced by the trypsin treatment were detected by both mechanical tests and quantitative MRI. Thus the relationships found between permeability and MRI parameters are valid for both groups.