Acceleration of Phase-Modulated UTE Sequences for Fast T2 and T1rho Mapping of Knee joints

Motivation: Rapid and accurate quantitative imaging of major tissue components in the knee joint is crucial for evaluating knee osteoarthritis. Goal(s): To accelerate the phase-modulated UTE (PM-UTE) sequence for fast T2 and T1rho mapping in the human knee joint. Approach: A modified PM-UTE scan pipeline was developed to accelerate whole knee joint imaging on a 3T clinical MRI scanner. The technical feasibility was tested through phantom, ex vivo, and in vivo knee imaging studies. Results: The accelerated PM-UTE sequence, with 1.6 times acceleration, accurately quantified T2 and T1rho for both short and long T2 tissue components in the knee joint. Impact: The accelerated PM-UTE technique enables fast and accurate measurement of both short and long T2 tissue components in the human knee joint, showing strong potential for clinical translation in the quantitative assessment of osteoarthritis.