Reliability and concurrent validity of three-dimensional ultrasound for quantifying knee cartilage volume

Abstract

Purpose: Cartilage degradation, a hallmark of knee osteoarthritis (OA), has motivated efforts to characterize disease severity through measuring loss of femoral articular cartilage (FAC). Clinical assessments and longitudinal monitoring of knee OA are commonly performed by x-ray radiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, x-ray imaging is not capable of assessing joint inflammation due to a lack of soft-tissue contrast. MRI is not feasible for point-of-care disease classification due to high manufacturing and operating costs, long acquisition times, and is inaccessible to some patients.