Miller Emily Y, Lee Woowon, Lowe Timothy, Zhu Hongtian, Argote Pablo F, Dresdner Danielle, Kelly James, Frank Rachel M, McCarty Eric, Bravman Jonathan, Stokes Daniel, Emery Nancy C, Neu Corey P
Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):21426. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-05306-4.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries lead to an increased risk of osteoarthritis (OA). However, efforts to diagnose OA before irreversible changes to the joint occur remain limited. In this work, we utilized both quantitative MRI (qMRI) and displacements under applied loading MRI (dualMRI) to determine if relaxometry measures derived from qMRI and strains derived from dualMRI correlate with patient-reported outcomes at six months post unilateral ACL reconstruction. Quantitative MRI (T2, T2*, T1ρ) measurements and dualMRI strains (transverse, axial, and shear strains) were quantified in the medial articular tibiofemoral cartilage of 35 participants at six-months post unilateral ACL reconstruction. The relationships between patient-reported outcome scores and all MRI metrics were quantified using general linear mixed-effects models and a combined best-fit multicontrast MRI model was then developed. Higher femoral shear and transverse strains were significantly correlated with worse patient-reported outcomes. No relaxometry measures were correlated with patient-reported outcome scores. We identified the best-fit model for predicting patient-reported outcome score using multiple MRI measures and patient-specific information. The best-fit model significantly predicted patient-reported outcome score (p < 0.001, R = 0.52) better than any one individual MRI metric alone. This work presents the first use of dualMRI in vivo in a cohort of participants at risk for developing osteoarthritis. Our results indicate that both shear and transverse strains are highly correlated with patient-reported outcome severity, and may represent early biomechanical changes associated with symptomatic burden, which could potentially inform future efforts to identify individuals at risk for developing osteoarthritis.
前交叉韧带（ACL）损伤会增加患骨关节炎（OA）的风险。然而，在关节发生不可逆变化之前诊断OA的努力仍然有限。在这项研究中，我们利用定量MRI（qMRI）和加载MRI下的位移（双MRI）来确定从qMRI得出的弛豫测量值和从双MRI得出的应变是否与单侧ACL重建术后六个月患者报告的结果相关。在35名参与者单侧ACL重建术后六个月，对其内侧胫股关节软骨进行定量MRI（T2、T2*、T1ρ）测量和双MRI应变（横向、轴向和剪切应变）的量化。使用一般线性混合效应模型量化患者报告的结果评分与所有MRI指标之间的关系，然后开发一个组合的最佳拟合多对比MRI模型。较高的股骨剪切应变和横向应变与患者报告的较差结果显著相关。没有弛豫测量值与患者报告的结果评分相关。我们使用多种MRI测量和患者特定信息确定了预测患者报告结果评分的最佳拟合模型。该最佳拟合模型对患者报告结果评分的预测能力显著优于任何单个MRI指标（p < 0.001，R = 0.52）。这项工作首次在有患骨关节炎风险的参与者队列中体内使用双MRI。我们的结果表明，剪切应变和横向应变均与患者报告结果的严重程度高度相关，可能代表与症状负担相关的早期生物力学变化，这可能为未来识别有患骨关节炎风险个体的努力提供信息。
