Abstract #0827

Bound Pool Fractions Correlate with Proteoglycan and Collagen Content in Articular Cartilage

Nikola Aleksandar Stikov¹, Kathryn E. Keenan², John Mark Pauly¹, R. Lane Smith³, Robert F. Dougherty⁴, Garry E. Gold,^3,5

¹Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ²Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ³Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ⁴Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ⁵Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

In this abstract, a novel method for imaging cartilage is proposed. A quantitative magnetization transfer technique called bound pool fraction (BPF) mapping is applied to human ex vivo knee specimens, and correlations with macromolecular content in articular cartilage are presented. BPFs are positively correlated with proteoglycan content, and negatively correlated with collagen content in articular cartilage.