T1ρ‐relaxation in articular cartilage: Effects of enzymatic degradation

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Abstract
Spin-lattice relaxation in the rotating frame (T1ρ) dispersion spectroscopy and imaging were used to study normal and enzymatically degraded bovine articular cartilage. Normal specimens demonstrate significant T1ρ “dispersion” (∼60 to ∼130 ms) in the 100 Hz to 9 kHz frequency range. Proteoglycan-degraded specimens have 33% greater T1ρ values than collagen-degraded or normal samples. T1ρ-weighted images reveal structure not found in conventional T1-or T2-weighted images. Our results suggest that T1ρ measurements are selectively sensitive to proteoglycan content. The potential of this method in distinguishing the early degenerative changes in cartilage associated with osteoarthritis is discussed.

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