Tourais J, Ploem T, van Zadelhoff TA, van de Steeg-Henzen C, Oei EHG, Weingartner S. Rapid Whole-Knee Quantification of Cartilage Using T
1, T
2*, and T
RAFF2 Mapping With Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2023;
70:3197-3205. [PMID:
37227911 DOI:
10.1109/tbme.2023.3280115]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) holds great promise for the early detection of cartilage deterioration. Here, a Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) framework is proposed for comprehensive and rapid quantification of T1, T2*, and TRAFF2 with whole-knee coverage.
METHODS
A MRF framework was developed to achieve quantification of Relaxation Along a Fictitious Field in the 2nd rotating frame of reference ( TRAFF2) along with T1 and T2*. The proposed sequence acquires 65 measurements of 25 high-resolution slices, interleaved with 7 inversion pulses and 40 RAFF2 trains, for whole-knee quantification in a total acquisition time of 3:25 min. Comparison with reference T1, T2*, and TRAFF2 methods was performed in phantom and in seven healthy subjects at 3 T. Repeatability (test-retest) with and without repositioning was also assessed.
RESULTS
Phantom measurements resulted in good agreement between MRF and the reference with mean biases of -54, 2, and 5 ms for T1, T2*, and TRAFF2, respectively. Complete characterization of the whole-knee cartilage was achieved for all subjects, and, for the femoral and tibial compartments, a good agreement between MRF and reference measurements was obtained. Across all subjects, the proposed MRF method yielded acceptable repeatability without repositioning ( R2 ≥ 0.94) and with repositioning ( R2 ≥ 0.57) for T1, T2*, and TRAFF2.
SIGNIFICANCE
The short scan time combined with the whole-knee coverage makes the proposed MRF framework a promising candidate for the early assessment of cartilage degeneration with quantitative MRI, but further research may be warranted to improve repeatability after repositioning and assess clinical value in patients.
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