T2 quantitation of human articular cartilage in a clinical setting at 1.5 T: implementation and testing of four multiecho pulse sequence designs for validity.

Rationale And Objectives: Evaluation of the T2 relaxation time of articular cartilage holds great potential for quantitative assessment of internal changes of the cartilage matrix. The purpose of the present study was to assess the validity of multiecho-based cartilage T2 quantitation in a clinical MRI setting at 1.5 T.