Morphological and compositional monitoring of a new cell-free cartilage repair hydrogel technology – GelrinC by MR using semi-quantitative MOCART scoring and quantitative T2 index and new zonal T2 index calculation

SummaryObjectiveTo evaluate cartilage repair tissue (RT) using MOCART scoring for morphological and T2 mapping for biochemical assessment following implantation of GelrinC, a biosynthetic, biodegradable hydrogel implant.DesignMR imaging (1.5/3T) was performed on 21 patients at six sites. Standard protocols were used for MOCART evaluation at 1 week (baseline) 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Multi-echo SE was used for T2 mapping. Global (T2 in RT divided by T2 in normal cartilage) and zonal T2 index (deep T2 divided by superficial T2) of RT were calculated.ResultsAverage MOCART score was 71.8 (95% CI 62.2 to 81.3) at six, 75.2 (95% CI 62.8 to 87.5) at twelve, 71.8 (95% CI 55.4 to 88.2) at eighteen and 84.4 (95% CI 77.7 to 91.0) at twenty-four months. The global T2 index ranged between 0.8 and 1.2 (normal healthy cartilage) in 1/11 (9%) patients at baseline, 8/12 (67%) at 12 months, 11/13 (85%) at 18 months and 13/16 (81%) at 24 months. The zonal T2 index for RT was