Abstract #3966

Quantification of 3D Radial Undersampling Artifact to Obtain High Quality Isotropic Resolution (0.36 Mm) for Volumetric Cartilage Assessment

Jessica L. Klaers¹, Ethan K. Brodsky^1,2, Walter F. Block^1,3

¹Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA; ²Radiology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA; ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA

It has been suggested that precise cartilage volume measurements used in longitudinal studies of cartilage degeneration and treatment measurements require an in-plane resolution on the order of 0.3mm. While 3D radial SSFP methods have proven to be powerful for cartilage assessment by consistently providing 0.47mm isotropic resolution in 5 minutes, the effects of further increasing the resolution by increasing undersampling are poorly understood. We examine the impact of varying the undersampling factor for a given resolution and scan time to obtain high isotropic resolution for cartilage volume measurements. Preliminary results utilizing new scanner technology demonstrate higher image quality than previously attainable at high resolution.