Parametric maps of the knee cartilage

Because cartilage does not regenerate and cartilage loss is irreversible, it is important to detect cartilage damage in early stage, so that preventive treatment can be used to stop the progression. The parametric magnetic resonance imaging techniques including T1, T2 and T2* maps provide information about the damages to the extracellular matrix of articular cartilage and the increase of water content in degenerated cartilage, So they can be used as a biomarker of cartilage degeneration. The objectives of this study were to develop an algorithms which can calculate T1, T2 and T2* parametric maps in different regions of the knee cartilage and to compare those values between Healthy and Osteoarthritis (OA) Patients.