Tractography of Porcine Meniscus Microstructure Using High-Resolution Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Frontiers in Endocrinology

Yi Qi³  Gary Cofer³  G. Allan Johnson³  Qi Zhao⁴  Jikai Shen⁵  Nian Wang⁶ 

[1] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States;Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States;Department of Radiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States;Physical Education Institute, Jimei University, Xiamen, China;School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China;Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United States;

关键词: DTI;    knee;    tractography;    meniscus;    connectivity;    segmentation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fendo.2022.876784

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

To noninvasively evaluate the three-dimensional collagen fiber architecture of porcine meniscus using diffusion MRI, meniscal specimens were scanned using a 3D diffusion-weighted spin-echo pulse sequence at 7.0 T. The collagen fiber alignment was revealed in each voxel and the complex 3D collagen network was visualized for the entire meniscus using tractography. The proposed automatic segmentation methods divided the whole meniscus to different zones (Red-Red, Red-White, and White-White) and different parts (anterior, body, and posterior). The diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics were quantified based on the segmentation results. The heatmap was generated to investigate the connections among different regions of meniscus. Strong zonal-dependent diffusion properties were demonstrated by DTI metrics. The fractional anisotropy (FA) value increased from 0.13 (White-White zone) to 0.26 (Red-Red zone) and the radial diffusivity (RD) value changed from 1.0 × 10-3 mm2/s (White-White zone) to 0.7 × 10-3 mm2/s (Red-Red zone). Coexistence of both radial and circumferential collagen fibers in the meniscus was evident by diffusion tractography. Weak connections were found between White-White zone and Red-Red zone in each part of the meniscus. The anterior part and posterior part were less connected, while the body part showed high connections to both anterior part and posterior part. The tractography based on diffusion MRI may provide a complementary method to study the integrity of meniscus and nondestructively visualize the 3D collagen fiber architecture.

【 授权许可】

Unknown