Abstract #3985

In Vivo Effects of Unloading and Compression on T2 and T1Gd (DGEMRIC) Relaxation Times of Healthy Knee Articular Cartilage at 3 Tesla

Marius E. Mayerhoefer¹, Goetz Welsch², Tallal C. Mamisch³, Siegfried Trattnig

¹Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; ²Medical University of Vienna, Austria; ³Inselspital Bern

We performed an in vivo assessment of the biochemical properties of healthy knee articular cartilage by means of T2 and T1Gd (dGEMRIC) mapping, to determine the effects of unloading and compression at 3.0 Tesla. Our results indicate that unloading has no significant effect on both T2 and T1Gd relaxation times. By contrast, compression leads to a small, significant increase of the T2 relaxation time, and to a more pronounced, significant decrease of the T1Gd relaxation time, in particular in the central, weight-bearing cartilage zones.