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Improved MRI to measure cartilage depth could aid osteoarthritis detection

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A technique developed at Lund University in Sweden that corrects MRI irregularities may help clinicians detect osteoarthritis early enough to slow or prevent progression of the disease, according to a Lund University press release.

A few years ago, Lund University and Harvard Medical School researchers developed the technique of measuring cartilage levels to detect osteoarthritis at early stages called delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage or dGEMRIC.

“This was major progress, but one problem was that the measurement could only be performed in a limited part of the cartilage. We have now improved the method so that we can study all the cartilage in the joint at once. We have achieved this by solving the problem of how to correct all the irregularities in the MRI images” Carl Siversson, MS, stated in the release.

Siversson and colleagues tested their improved method on healthy individuals and compared their results to ones in individuals with osteoarthritis. Based on those findings, the disease can now be monitored in ways that were not previously possible, Siversson noted in the release.

“Now we are continuing our work to make the method easy for doctors to use in their practice. Our hope is that the method will also be significant for future drug development,” he stated.

Reference:

• Siversson C. Three-dimensional T1 quantification techniques for assessment of cartilage quality using dGEMRIC [master’s thesis]. Malmö, Sweden: Department of Radiation Physics, Lund University; 2011.

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