Evaluation of the degenerative pattern of PCL in osteoarthritis patients using UTE-T2 mapping.

Background: The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is one of the essential stabilizers of the knee joint and it was demonstrated that its degenerative change related to the knee osteoarthritis (OA). We aimed to evaluate signal of the PCL in OA patients in comparison with healthy young and elderly volunteers using the ultra-short echo timeenhanced (UTE)-T2∗ mapping, and to validate these findings with histology.

Methods: Thirty asymptomatic volunteers, 13 young people (younger group) and 17 elderly people (elder group), and 27 patients who had undergone total knee arthroplasty (OA group) were enrolled in this study.

Quantification of the salivary volume flow rate in the parotid duct using the time-spatial labeling inversion pulse (Time-SLIP) technique at MRI: A feasibility study.

Background: We developed a method to quantify the volume flow rate (VFR) using the time-spatial labeling inversion pulse (Time-SLIP) technique to evaluate salivary function.

Purpose/hypothesis: To investigate the accuracy of quantification of the salivary VFR using the Time-SLIP technique in phantoms and to examine the feasibility of its use in human subjects.

Study Type: This was a prospective phantom and volunteer study.