Triangular Fibrocartilage Characterization with Ultrashort Echo Time-T2* MRI: Insights from a Healthy Cohort

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Imaging
• Orthopedics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• The triangular fibrocartilage (TFC) disc is crucial for wrist biomechanics.
• Assessing TFC health non-invasively is important for early detection of degeneration.
• T2* relaxation time is a quantitative MRI parameter sensitive to tissue microstructure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure T2* relaxation time in the TFC disc of asymptomatic volunteers.
• To evaluate the influence of age, sex, hand dominance, and ulnar variance on TFC T2* values.
• To establish normative T2* values for the TFC disc using a 3D ultra-short echo time (UTE) sequence.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a dedicated 3D ultra-short echo time (UTE)-T2* mapping MRI sequence.
• Included anatomical MRI sequences for anatomical context.
• Employed linear regression analysis to assess correlations between T2* values and demographic/biomechanical factors.

Main Results:

• A significant positive correlation was found between T2* relaxation time and age in the TFC disc.
• T2* values were not significantly influenced by sex or hand dominance.
• No significant correlation was observed between T2* values and ulnar variance in this cohort.

Conclusions:

• 3D UTE-T2* mapping is a promising MRI technique for evaluating the TFC disc in healthy subjects.
• Age-related increases in T2* may indicate early microstructural degeneration of the TFC.
• Normative T2* data can aid in interpreting TFC abnormalities in future clinical studies.