Magnetic resonance chondro‐crassometry (MR CCM): A method for accurate determination of articular cartilace thickness?

Abstract

A method for the assessment of articular cartilage thickness based on MRI is presented and tts accuracy and reproducibil-tty tested. Six specimens of human patellae were imaged, using a fat-supressed FLASH 3D sequence, and sectioned with a high-precision band saw. The reglonal dlstribution of articular cartilage thickness was determined from the MR images and from the anatomical sections (intervals of 0.5 mm). Wtth image analysis 50–90% of the image points were found to lie within exactly the same thickness interval in corresponding patterns, and tess than 17% deviated more than 0.5 mm. More than 85% of ali pixels were reproducible wtth MRI after new positioning of the Joint No influence of the read-out direction and no important differences between areas of thin and thick cartilage could be detected. The authors conclude that MR chondro-crassometry can provide accurate and reproducible Information on cartilage thickness.