MR imaging of rabbit hip cartilage with a clinical imager and specifically designed surface coils.
OBJECTIVE
The authors' purpose was to develop a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique for examining the hip joint of a rabbit with a clinical MR imager.


METHODS
Fourteen hips of 10 male New Zealand white rabbits were examined on a 1.5-T MR imager with a specially designed surface coil. Field of view was 3-8 cm, matrix was 256-512 x 192-256, section thickness was 0.9-2.0 mm, and spacing was 0.3-0.5 mm. The hips were sectioned and evaluated by means of light microscopy. Measurements of cartilage thickness from MR images were correlated with those from histologic specimens.


RESULTS
The resolution obtainable with a 1.5-T imager was adequate for imaging articular cartilage when a débrided rabbit hip specimen was placed in the center of a 3.5-cm single-loop coil. Rabbit hip cartilage had a trilaminar appearance on MR images. The coefficient of correlation between cartilage-thickness measurements was .81.


CONCLUSIONS
MR imaging of rabbit hip cartilage can be performed on 1.5-T clinical MR imaging unit. Limitations due to the field strength can be overcome with efficiently designed surface coils.
Morishita
Y
Y
Department of Radiology, Toho University School of Medicine, Ohashi Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Rubin
S J
SJ
Hicks
D G
DG
Kwok
E
E
Seo
G S
GS
Totterman
S M
SM
D000077:Acetabulum / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004867:Equipment Design; D005270:Femur Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007089:Image Enhancement; D017746:Joint Capsule / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy; D011817:Rabbits