In Vivo Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) of Articular Cartilage of Healthy & Osteoarthritis (OA) Subjects with Coverage of All Cartilage Plates

Jose G. Raya¹, Mike Notohamiprodjo², Svetlana Krasnokutsky, Soterios Gyftopoulos, Christian Glaser

In Vivo DTI of articular cartilage has demonstrated high-diagnostic accuracy for OA in the patellar cartilage. Aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and potential for diagnosis of in vivo DTI in all cartilage plates (patella, tibia lateral and medial and femur). DTI was performed sagittal on the right knee of 10 healthy volunteers and on 3 OA-diagnosed patients. MD and FA were measured on all cartilage plates. In the healthy population no difference in the diffusion properties among the cartilage plates was observed. OA subjects demonstrated abnormal diffusion properties in the patellofemoral and lateral tibiofemoral compartments.