Abstract #0372

7T Diffusion Tensor Imaging of High Mechanical Stress Achilles Tendon-to-Bone Interface

Simone Angela Winkler¹, Lara Kuntz^1,2, Christoph Leuze¹, Hossein Nejadnik¹, Laura J Pisani¹, and Heike Daldrup-Link¹

¹Dept of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ²Clinics of Orthopedics and Chair of Cellular Biophysics, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany

We present imaging analysis using MRI of the Achilles tendon-to-bone interface (“enthesis”) to investigate on the four distinct zones responsible for mechanical force transfer. Conventional T1- and T2-weighted imaging in humans yields very low MR signal. We therefore present T1-weighted FLASH 3D imaging at ultra high-field (7T), using a porcine sample from a minipig leg. We were able to identify the four zones (fibrous connective tissue, uncalcified fibrocartilage, calcified fibrocartilage, and bone) in both T1 and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

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