Evaluation of MRI images’ pixels intensity in three different MRI sequences

Abstract Numerous types of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) sequence have been utilized for in vivo tibiofemoral contact area study has led inconsistency and disproportionate results. Thus, this study aim is to assess intensity differences of MRI images in three different MRI sequences. Ten healthy subjects with average age of 25.5 ± 4.76 consisted three males and seven females have no history of knee injuries participated in this study. Subjects were scanned through an Achieva 3.0T TX coupled with a SENSE spine coil 15. The selected MRI sequences were Turbo Spin Echo (TSE), Fast Field Echo (FFE) and Steady State Free Precision (SSFP). The results showed that the SSFP sequence consistently uncovered extra contact areas than the FFE and TSE sequences. Overall intensity value indicated that the TSE sequence intersected the highest intensity differences at important knee tissue components: trabecular-cortical and cartilage-synovial. The study demonstrated that the TSE sequence yields an accurate contact length detection which promoted a consistent tibiofemoral contact area for quantification. Also, this study suggested that the TSE sequence is a proper MRI sequence selection for in vivo tibofemoral contact area study.