Quantification of meniscal volume by segmentation of 3 T magnetic resonance images

Abstract

Meniscal injuries place the knee at risk for early osteoarthritis (OA) because they disrupt their loadbearing capabilities. Partial resection is routinely performed to alleviate symptomatic meniscal tears. While the removal of meniscal tissue may not be the only factor associated with partial meniscectomy outcome, the amount removed certainly contributes to functional loss. It is unknown, however, whether there is a critical amount of meniscal tissue that can be removed without diminishing the structure's chondroprotective role. In order to examine the existence of such a threshold, it is necessary to accurately quantify meniscal volume both before and after partial meniscectomy to determine the amount of meniscal tissue removed. Therefore, our goal was to develop and validate an MR-based method for assessing meniscal volume. The specific aims were: (1) to evaluate the feasibility of the MR-based segmentation method; (2) to determine the method's reliability for repeated measurements; and (3) to validate its accuracy in situ. MR images were obtained on a 3T magnet, and each scan was segmented using a biplanar approach. The MR-based volumes for each specimen were compared to those measured by water displacement. The results indicate that the biplanar approach of measuring meniscal volumes is accurate and reliable. The calculated volumes of the menisci were within 5% of the true values, the coefficients of variation were 4%, and the intraclass correlation coefficients were greater than 0.96. These data demonstrate that this method could be used to measure the amount of meniscal tissue excised during partial meniscectomy to within 125.7mm 3 .

Morphometric Differences between the Medial and Lateral Meniscus in Healthy Men – A Three-Dimensional Analysis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…Opposite to the coronal fast-low angle shot acquisition of the OAI that also provides high-resolution images but is T 1 weighted, the DESS has T 2 -and T 2 * -weighted signals that contribute to the combined DESS signal [Eckstein et al, 2006b], enabling a clear delineation of the meniscal tissue. Another T 2 * -weighted gradient echo sequence was previously used by Bowers et al [2007] and the authors reported satisfactory test-retest precision and good agreement between MRI-based meniscal volume measurements in cadaver specimens and water displacement of surgically removed menisci. However, because the IW TSE sequence represents a gold standard in the clinical evaluation of the meniscus [Roemer et al, 2005;Guermazi et al, 2008;Roemer et al, 2009], we additionally used these images to assist in the readings of the DESS, by displaying them in parallel with the latter during the segmentation process, particularly in situations of unclear contrast.…”

Relationship of 3D meniscal morphology and position with knee pain in subjects with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study

“…[24,25]. As meniscal extrusion and size are difficult to evaluate objectively by scoring, interest has emerged in developing quantitative measurement technology using MRI [26][27][28][29].…”

Alterations in structure and properties of collagen network of osteoarthritic and repaired cartilage modify knee joint stresses

“…Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to diagnose knee joint disorders and characterize articular cartilage and meniscus properties (Nieminen et al 2001;Bowers et al 2007;Kurkijarvi et al 2007;Vance et al 2009). MRI information can be used to create numerical model geometries of joints and further to estimate stresses and strains in cartilage and menisci to reveal potential failure points in joints.…”