Xu Feng1, Carol Muehleman2,
Richard Magin1
1Bioengineering, University of Illinois
at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; 2Biochemistry, Rush
Medical College, Chicago, IL, United States
Recent
publications have shown FA can reflect the orientation of the collagen fibers
using DTI in MRI. However, the FA contrasts were low especially between the
superficial and middle zone in those literatures. This was possibly because
they selected the short diffusion time (δ < 10 ms). In our study, we
increase the diffusion time from 10 ms to 30 ms so that the FA contrast
increased by 4 times. We also suggest using the maximum diffusivity as a
marker of hydration or PG loss of cartilage due to the less effect of the
restricted diffusion.