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Ultrasound Tissue Characterization of Human Achilles Tendon by Stability Quantification of Echo Patterns
Published on: September 5, 2025
Bicomponent ultrashort echo time T2* analysis for assessment of patients with patellar tendinopathy
Richard Kijowski1, John J Wilson2, Fang Liu1
1Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Purpose:
To compare bicomponent ultrashort echo time (UTE) T2* parameters of patellar tendon between healthy volunteers and patients with patellar tendinopathy.
Materials And Methods:
This study was performed with Institutional Review Board approval and with all subjects signing informed consent. A UTE- T2* mapping sequence was performed at 3.0T on the knees of 10 healthy volunteers and in 11 patients with patellar tendinopathy. The UTE- T2* relaxation times of the fast relaxing macromolecular bound water component ( T2*F) and the slow relaxing bulk water component ( T2*S) and the fraction of the fast relaxing macromolecular bound water component (FF ) of patellar tendon were measured in all subjects. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare UTE- T2* parameters between healthy volunteers and patients with patellar tendinopathy.
Results:
Mean T2*F, T2*S, and FF of the patellar tendon was 1.5 msec, 23.1 msec, and 79.5%, respectively, for healthy volunteers and 1.9 msec, 22.3 msec, and 75.5%, respectively, for patients with patellar tendinopathy. There were statistically significant differences between groups of subjects for T2*F (P = 0.01) and FF (P = 0.007) but not T2*S (P = 0.10) of the patellar tendon.
Conclusion:
Patients with patellar tendinopathy had significantly higher T2*F and significantly lower FF of patellar tendon than healthy volunteers, which suggests that bicomponent UTE- T2* parameters can detect changes in the composition and microstructure of degenerative tendon.
Level Of Evidence:
1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1441-1447.
