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Diagnostic tools and imaging methods in intervertebral disk degeneration

Sharmila Majumdar1, Thomas M Link, Lynne S Steinbach

  • 1Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. Sharmila.Majumdar@ucsf.edu

The Orthopedic Clinics of North America
|September 28, 2011
PubMed

Insights

New MRI techniques offer advanced imaging for intervertebral disk degeneration, a common cause of low back pain. These methods promise quantitative assessment of disk health and degeneration.

Area of Science:

  • Radiology
  • Biomedical Imaging
  • Orthopedics

Background:

  • Low back pain significantly impacts society and the economy.
  • Intervertebral disk degeneration is a primary cause of low back pain.
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) offers detailed insights into disk morphology and biochemistry.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review novel and emerging MRI techniques for assessing intervertebral disk health.
  • To explore advanced MRI methods for characterizing disk degeneration.
  • To discuss the potential of MRI in quantitatively evaluating disk status.

Main Methods:

  • Review of advanced MRI techniques: grading, relaxation-time measurements, diffusion, and contrast perfusion.
  • Discussion of high-resolution magic-angle spinning methods for correlating in vitro and in vivo disk degeneration.
  • Integration of morphologic and biochemical imaging data.

Main Results:

  • Emerging MRI techniques provide detailed morphologic and biochemical information about intervertebral disks.
  • Advanced methods allow for quantitative assessment of disk degeneration.
  • Correlation of in vitro and in vivo spectroscopic results is achievable.

Conclusions:

  • MRI is a promising tool for the quantitative assessment of intervertebral disk health.
  • Advanced MRI techniques can characterize disk degeneration and its biochemical status.
  • Improved imaging may lead to better understanding and management of low back pain.

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