Human partial anterior cruciate ligament tears can be extremely difficult to diagnose with conventional MRI. Variations of signal intensity within the ligament are suggestive of injury but it is not possible to confirm damage or assess the collagen alignment within the ligaments. We have shown that magic angle imaging has the ability to visualise and quantify collagen fibers in a partially torn canine cruciate ligament. Furthermore it can delineate between damaged and healthy fiber bundles within the same ligament. This method has the potential to become a non-invasive alternative to arthroscopy for assessing and monitoring ligament damage and repair outcomes.
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