MR imaging of rabbit hip cartilage with a clinical imager and specifically designed surface coils

Abstract

The authors' purpose was to develop a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique for examining the hip joint of a rabbit with a clinical MR imager. Fourteen hips of 10 male New Zealand white rabbits were examined on a 1.5-T MR imager with a specially designed surface coil. Field of view was 3-8 cm, matrix was 256-512 x 192-256, section thickness was 0.9-2.0 mm, and spacing was 0.3-0.5 mm. The hips were sectioned and evaluated by means of light microscopy. Measurements of cartilage thickness from MR images were correlated with those from histologic specimens. The resolution obtainable with a 1.5-T imager was adequate for imaging articular cartilage when a débrided rabbit hip specimen was placed in the center of a 3.5-cm single-loop coil. Rabbit hip cartilage had a trilaminar appearance on MR images. The coefficient of correlation between cartilage-thickness measurements was .81. MR imaging of rabbit hip cartilage can be performed on 1.5-T clinical MR imaging unit. Limitations due to the field strength can be overcome with efficiently designed surface coils.