CORRELATION OF T1? MRI AND SODIUM MRI IN INTERVERTEBRAL DISCS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 椎间盘退变是一种常见的，有时会使人虚弱的疾病，影响 相当大比例的人口。椎间盘退变的最早阶段涉及 椎间盘髓核区域蛋白多糖的分解。当前的诊断 椎间盘退变的方法依赖于T2加权质子磁共振成像，而T2加权质子成像对 蛋白多糖分解。T1？MRI已被证明对相互作用很敏感 大分子如蛋白多糖和散装水，因此它对 IVD中的蛋白多糖浓度。钠核磁共振已被证明是一种准确的测量方法。 蛋白多糖含量，因为Na+离子被蛋白多糖的固定电荷密度吸引 蛋白蓝分子。这项研究的目的是证明T1？作为一种测量 光盘PG含量，通过使用自配准将T1？松弛时间常数与[Na+]相关联 体外牛盘标本的质子T1？和钠的磁共振成像。因为钠核磁共振成像有限 由于固有的低信噪比和硬件要求，T1？MRI在临床环境中的应用 可能是一种更适合于非侵入性评估视盘蛋白多糖含量的方法 在活体内。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Intervertebral disc degeneration is a common and sometimes debilitating condition affecting a significant percentage of the population. The earliest stage of disc degeneration involves the breakdown of proteoglycans in the nucleus pulposus region of the disc. The current diagnostic method for disc degeneration relies on T2 -weighted proton MRI, which is not sensitive to proteoglycan breakdown. T1¿ MRI has been shown to be sensitive to the interaction between large macromolecules like the proteoglycan and bulk water, thus it is potentially sensitive to the proteoglycan concentration in IVD. Sodium MRI has been shown to be an accurate measurement of proteoglycan content, since Na+ cations are attracted by the fixed-charge density of the proteoglcyan molecules. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate T1¿ as a measurement of disc PG content, by correlating T1¿ relaxation time constants with [Na+] using self-coregistered proton T1¿ and sodium MR images of ex vivo bovine disc samples. Since sodium MRI has limited application in clinical settings due to the inherent low SNR and hardware requirement, T1¿ MRI may serve as a more suitable approach to non-invasive assessment of disc proteoglycan content in vivo.