title: Three-dimensional topographical variation of femoral cartilage T2 in healthy volunteer knees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Quantitative knee cartilage T2 assessment on limited two-dimensional midsagittal or midcoronal planes may be insufficient to assess variations in normal cartilage composition. The purpose of this work was to reveal characteristic 3D distribution of T2 values in femoral cartilage in healthy volunteer knees.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen volunteers were enrolled in this study. One knee joint in each volunteer was imaged using a 3D fast image employing steady-state acquisition cycled phases (FIESTA-C) sequence for modeling distal femoral morphology, as well as a sagittal T2 mapping of cartilage. 3D distribution of cartilage T2 values was generated for the femoral condyles. At each medial and lateral condyle, four regions of interest (ROI) were manually defined based on the cartilage covered by the 3D surface model of the medial and lateral menisci.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 3D maps showed a relatively inhomogeneous distribution of cartilage T2 on the medial and lateral condyles. Cartilage T2 values in the internal half of the weight-bearing zone were significantly higher than those in all other zones on both lateral and medial condyles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of 3D distribution of femoral cartilage T2 may be valuable in determining the site-specific normal range of cartilage T2 in the healthy knee joint.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan. t-shiomi@ka2.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiomi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishii
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult