Abstract #1115

Demonstration of Meniscal Fiber Structure In Vivo by Radial Imaging with Minimal Phase Excitation & Adiabatic Fat Suppression Pulses at High Field

Ping-Huei Tsai¹, Cheng Li², Jeremy Magland², Teng-Yi Huang³, Felix W. Wehrli², Hsiao-Wen Chung¹

¹Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics & Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; ²Laboratory for Structural NMR Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; ³Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science & Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

The meniscus is critical to maintaining proper mechanical functioning of the knee, and plays a vital role in load distribution. Previous studies have emphasized that the meniscis complex alignment of collagen fibers contributes to the execution of this function. However, assessing the variable orientations of these fibers in vivo is difficult due to their relatively short T2 value and perturbations from spatial variation in magnetic susceptibility. This study used 3D radial imaging with minimal phase excitation and adiabatic fat suppression pulses to obtain adequate SNR to contrast fiber orientations in human menisci. The findings indicated this methodology allows visualization of the fiber structure of the meniscus in vivo.