title: Quantitative assessment of morphology, T1ρ, and T2of shoulder cartilage using MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of quantifying shoulder cartilage morphology and relaxometry in a clinically feasible scan time comparing different pulse sequences and assessing their reproducibility at 3 Tesla.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three pulse sequences were compared for morphological assessments of shoulder cartilage thickness and volume (SPGR, MERGE, FIESTA), while a combined T1ρ-T2 sequence was optimized for relaxometry measurements. The shoulders of six healthy subjects were scanned twice with repositioning, and the cartilage was segmented and quantified. The degree of agreement between the three morphological sequences was assessed using Bland-Altman plots, while the morphological and relaxometry reproducibility were assessed with root-mean-square coefficients of variation (RMS-CVs) RESULTS: Bland-Altman plots indicated good levels of agreement between the morphological assessments of the three sequences. The reproducibility of morphological assessments yielded RMS-CVs between 4.0 and 17.7 %. All sequences correlated highly (R > 0.9) for morphologic assessments with no statistically significant differences. For relaxometry assessments of humeral cartilage, RMS-CVs of 6.4 and 10.6 % were found for T1ρ and T2, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The assessment of both cartilage morphology and relaxometry is feasible in the shoulder with SPGR, humeral head, and T1ρ being the more reproducible morphological sequence, anatomic region, and quantitative sequence, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • The thin cartilage morphology can be assessed in the shoulder in vivo. • Non-invasive biochemical assessment of shoulder cartilage is feasible in vivo using MRI.
authors.affiliation: Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 185 Berry Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nardo
authors.affiliation: Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 185 Berry Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carballido-Gamio
authors.affiliation: Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 185 Berry Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA.
authors.forename: Solomon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 185 Berry Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, 185 Berry Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA. roland.krug@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krug
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cartilage thickness; MRI; Shoulder cartilage; T1ρ mapping; T2 mapping