Dyer Olivia L, Cone Stephanie G
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, 540 S College Ave, Ste 201K, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):22435. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-05769-5.
The knee is a complex articulating joint composed of bones and fibrous connective tissues with anatomy retained across species including humans, pigs, dogs, rats, and mice. Imaging developments in high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has enabled non-destructive 3D structural analysis of small animal joints to further these preclinical models. The goal of this work was to apply MRI techniques for rodent knee joints using a high field MRI scanner and to characterize the morphometry of the four primary ligaments and medial and lateral menisci. Briefly, female rat and mouse knees were imaged in a 9.4T MRI scanner and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the ligaments and the meniscal heights and widths were recorded. Tissue dependent relationships were observed in the rat and mouse ligaments. The PCL was the largest ligament in the rats with a CSA of 0.35 ± 0.08 mm, while the LCL was the largest ligament in the mice, with a CSA of 0.054 ± 0.017 mm. Rat and mouse meniscal width had an anatomical location dependent relationship, while meniscal height did not. This will support future work exploring morphometric effects due to aging, injury, and disease in preclinical animal models.
膝关节是一个由骨骼和纤维结缔组织构成的复杂关节，其解剖结构在包括人类、猪、狗、大鼠和小鼠在内的多种物种中都得以保留。高场磁共振成像（MRI）技术的发展使得对小动物关节进行非破坏性三维结构分析成为可能，从而推动了这些临床前模型的发展。这项工作的目标是使用高场MRI扫描仪对啮齿动物膝关节应用MRI技术，并对四条主要韧带以及内侧和外侧半月板的形态进行表征。简要来说，对雌性大鼠和小鼠的膝关节在9.4T MRI扫描仪中进行成像，并记录韧带的横截面积（CSA）以及半月板的高度和宽度。在大鼠和小鼠的韧带中观察到了与组织相关的关系。在大鼠中，后交叉韧带（PCL）是最大的韧带，CSA为0.35±0.08平方毫米，而在小鼠中，外侧副韧带（LCL）是最大的韧带，CSA为0.054±0.017平方毫米。大鼠和小鼠半月板的宽度与解剖位置有关，而半月板高度则无关。这将为未来在临床前动物模型中探索衰老、损伤和疾病对形态测量的影响的研究提供支持。
