Toshiyuki Shiomi1, Pavol Szomolanyi1, 2, Vladimir Juras1, 2, Stefan Zbyn1, Takashi Nishii3, Siegfried Trattnig1
1MR Centre of Excellence, Department of Radiology, Medical University Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Vienna, Austria; 2Department of Imaging Methods, Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia; 3Department of Orthopaedics, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan
The purpose of this study was to characterize the time-dependence of cartilage stiffness under static loading using T2 mapping of the femoral cartilage of the knee joint in vivo in healthy volunteers. During the first loading period (10 minutes), the largest decrease of -8.2% of the T2 value was observed. T2 values exhibited a nonlinear dynamic change over time and reached stable values after 10 minutes of loading/unloading. Loading of the knee during MRI can provide biomechanical characteristics of the human knee cartilage. Statistically significant changes in cartilage T2 during the loading and unloading phases provide insight into cartilage properties.