Repeatability and reproducibility of in vivo magnetic resonance T1rho relaxation time measurements of hip cartilage at 3T

International audienceTo detect early changes in cartilage, quantification methods were developed with Magnetic Resonance Imaging. T1rho sequence is a valuable tool to quantitatively access the proteoglycans content, complementary to T2 mapping technique that is correlated with the collagen content. The thin cartilage thickness and deep location of the hip joint require a strong compromise between SNR, pixel size and acquisition time. The aim of this study is to test the repeatability and reproducibility of in vivo (magnetic resonance) T1rho and T2 relaxation times measures in the hip joint cartilage of thirty healthy asymptomatic volunteers