David W. Stanley1, Kameron R. Shahid2,
Joel P. Felmlee2, Kimberly K. Amrami2, Eric T. Han3,
Dan W. Rettmann4
1MR, GE Healthcare, Proctor, MN, United
States; 2Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States; 3Applied
Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States; 4Applied
Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Rochester , MN, United States
Osteoarthritis
is a prevalent degenerative joint disease, with radiographic disease in 80%
of people over the age of 75. High
field-strength MRI and new techniques, such as T1, may provide a more
sensitive means of assessing the degree of early damage to cartilage than
plain film radiography or conventional MRI. The goal of this study is to
determine the initial reproducibility and reliability of T1r mapping at
3-Tesla and determine the feasibility as a clinical tool. Reproducibility was
studied sequentially on one machine as well as over time on multiple
machines. These data are important to assure that accurate measurements are
obtained and to determine if an external reference must be routinely
evaluated for scanner calibration purposes.
Keywords