Study of the Vertical Striations in Articular Cartilage Using Dipolar Anisotropy Fiber Imaging

Nikolaus M. Szeverenyi¹, Jiang Du¹, Chantal Pauli², Sheronda Statum¹, Christine Chung¹, Graeme M. Bydder¹

Magic angle effects are important in accounting for the signal of different layers of articular cartilage, but equally striking are vertical striations seen perpendicular to the layers. These correlate with leaves seen with freeze-fracture, but the mechanism responsible for contrast between them has not been defined. By systematically rotating cartilage relative to B0, imaging it, registering the images and studying the signal intensity, differences in degree of magic angle effect between leaves were defined. In addition, both linear and meshwork patterns of fibers were demonstrated in the leaves. These structures were most evident in uncovered cartilage.