Feasibility Study of High Resolution PDw Imaging of Cartilage of the Thumb at 7Tesla MRI

Mies A. Korteweg¹, Fredy Visser², ³, Paul Cernohorsky⁴, Simon D. Strackee⁴, Peter R. Luijten², Mario Maas¹, Dennis W.J. Klomp²

Cartilage of the first carpometacarpal joint (CMC1) is commonly affected in osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Routine imaging cannot depict CMC1 cartilage, causing interobserver variability for disease staging and treatment planning. This study shows that routine clinical PDw-TSE and WATS sequence is feasible at 7T for the depiction of the thin layer of cartilage of the CMC1 joint. Combining the high SNR at 7T and a 32 channel high density flexible receive array has the potential to make the next step toward cartilage imaging in CMC1 OA patients, possibly providing an important staging tool for the disease extent and treatment planning.