Osteoarthritis involves the breakdown of collagen fibers and proteoglycan molecules in articular cartilage. By selectively degrading these macromolecules with diegestive enzymes, we obtain correlations between the breakdown of these structures and MR imaging properties. Thus far, multiple quantum sodium imaging displays a distinctive sensitivity toward detecting the loss of proteoglycans. Also, the residual quadrupolar interaction of sodium highlights the degradation of the collagen matrix. T1r based proton imaging provides an indicator for mild degradation of cartilage specimens. Currently, we are comparing the MR properties of enzymatically degraded cartilage with human specimens obtained from osteoarthritic subjects during knee replacement. We are also correlating the MR results obtained both T1r based proton imaging and sodium MR with histological analysis. Both of these methods have high potential for early detection of cartilage degradation.
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