By Monica Jaramillo
Researchers found isotropic 3-D turbo echo-spin sampling to be a reliable MRI sequence that demonstrated high accuracy for morphological knee cartilage imaging at 3 T. Additionally, although ultrashort echo-time imaging was capable of obtaining image signals from deep cartilage layers, the researchers found further study was needed to evaluate its role in cartilage assessment.
The researchers prospectively evaluated the MRIs of 10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with cartilage abnormality in their knees. Two radiologists compared and evaluated the MRIs using five different isotropic 3-D sequences: water-excited 3-D fast low-angle shot (FLASH), water-excited double-echo steady-state (DESS), water-excited true fast imaging with steady-state free precession (TrueFISP), fat-saturated intermediate-weighted3-D turbo spin-echo sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using variable flip-angle evolutions (SPACE), and a prototype 3-D ultrashort echo-time (UTE) sequence.
