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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
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Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Mapping Fatty Acid Composition in the Human Knee: Short-Term Repeatability at 3T.
Dimitri Martel1,2, Anne Adlung1, Baptiste Busi1
1Department of Radiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging : JMRI
|June 25, 2026
Summary
This study shows that a 12-echo MRI protocol reliably measures proton-density fat fraction (PDFF) and saturated fatty acids (SFA) in knee tissues over one week. Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) reliability varies by tissue, while polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are least stable.
Area of Science:
- Musculoskeletal imaging
- Biomarkers of metabolic health
- Quantitative MRI
Background:
- Periarticular lipid alterations are linked to musculoskeletal diseases.
- Short-term reliability of MRI-based knee fat composition mapping is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the 1-week repeatability of proton-density fat fraction (PDFF) and triglyceride fatty acid composition (SFA, MUFA, PUFA) in periarticular knee tissues using MRI.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study involving 10 healthy adults.
- 3T MRI with a 12-echo 3D spoiled gradient-echo sequence for fat quantification.
- Segmentation of multiple knee tissues including bone marrow, patella, and fat pads.
- Voxelwise spectral fitting to estimate PDFF and fatty acid components (SFA, MUFA, PUFA).
Main Results:
- PDFF and SFA demonstrated high repeatability across most tissues (wCV: 1.5%-12.6%; ICC: 0.19-0.96).
- MUFA reliability varied by anatomy, with excellent consistency in subcutaneous adipose tissue (ICC: 0.97).
- PUFA exhibited the highest variability (wCV: 3.6%-52.8%), particularly in periarticular fat pads.
Conclusions:
- A 12-echo chemical shift-encoded MRI protocol offers repeatable measurements for PDFF and SFA in periarticular knee tissues over a 1-week interval.
- MUFA reliability is tissue-dependent, and PUFA measurements show the least stability.
- Findings support the potential of this MRI technique for monitoring knee tissue composition.
