4D in vivo quantification of ankle joint space width using dynamic MRI

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomechanical Engineering
• Radiology

Background:

• Degenerative joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA), cause joint degeneration and limit daily activities.
• Accurate measurement of joint space width (JSW) during motion is crucial for early OA treatment planning.
• Quantifying dynamic JSW changes in moving joints remains a challenge in current research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a generic pipeline for accurately determining spatio-temporal JSW changes during joint motion.
• To enable non-invasive quantification of JSW evolution in dynamic joint movements.
• To provide a tool for large-scale studies on OA and other joint conditions.

Main Methods:

• Combined static MRI spatial data with low-resolution (LR) dynamic MRI temporal data using intensity-based registration.
• Achieved high-resolution (HR) temporal reconstruction of the joint.
• Measured temporal JSW in the HR domain using an Eulerian approach for partial differential equations (PDEs) with HR bone segmentations as Dirichlet boundaries.

Main Results:

• Successfully applied the pipeline to in vivo MRI data of five healthy children.
• Quantified the spatio-temporal evolution of ankle (tibiotalar joint) JSW during the complete dorsi-plantar flexion cycle.
• Demonstrated promising results for non-invasive JSW measurement in dynamic joint motion.

Conclusions:

• The developed pipeline accurately quantifies spatio-temporal JSW changes during joint motion.
• This approach offers a valuable tool for non-invasive assessment in clinical research, particularly for OA.
• The method shows potential for application in large-scale studies involving various joints like the ankle and knee.