In Vivo Reproducibility of T2 and T1rho Relaxation Times in Multiple Coils and Sequences

Motivation: T2 and T1rho reproducibility is essential for evaluating the small changes that occur during early osteoarthritis that are predictive of disease progression. Goal(s): To evaluate the reproducibility of T2 and T1rho relaxation times in multiple coils and with multiple imaging sequences. Approach: We studied the reproducibility of T1rho and T2 relaxation times with a MAPSS and qDESS sequence in a Transmit-Receive knee coil and two different flexible extremity coil arrays. Results: Intra-coil CVs of less than 5% (QIBA Goal) in qDESS T2 measurements with all coils tested, MAPSS T2 measurements with both flexible-coil-arrays and MAPSS T1rho measurements only with the Air coil. Impact: Preliminary findings suggest that flexible, receive-only coil arrays show similar or improved reproducibility for evaluating cartilage T2 and T1rho relaxation times compared to standard T/R knee coils.