Magnetic resonance microimaging of cartilage

Overview

Topic status: We're looking for students to study this topic.

Articular cartilage (AC) is a connective tissue that protects the ends of long bones (e.g., femur or tibia). It consists mostly (65%) of water, but its unique properties are determined by a cross-linked scaffold of two biological polymers, collagen and proteoglycans. The biopolymeric scaffold provides rigidity and elasticity to the tissue and enables the reduction of contact stress on the bones it covers. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive disease resulting in a gradual erosion of cartilage. Advanced OA is a debilitating disease that results in a loss of mobility in the affected joint. Unfortunately, OA is almost impossible to diagnose at the early onset and is usually detected only when the damage to cartilage is advanced and irreversible. Development of imaging techniques capable of detecting early-stage OA would be a huge breakthrough in reducing the burden of the disease. Magnetic resonance microimaging (micro-MRI) is sensitive to the microstructure and molecular organisation of cartilage and therefore is a promising modality for early diagnosis of OA. In this project, you will use micro-MRI to study the relationship between molecular organisation of cartilage, its function and changes that occur during its degradation. The aim of this research is to develop an in vitro model of the disease that could be used for fine-tuning the imaging techniques and, ultimately, to identify the imaging 'signatures' that will serve as a basis for clinical diagnosis of early OA. There are many sub-projects available within this project, which include:

  1. Investigation of correlation between MRI relaxation anisotropy and diffusion-tensor anisotropy. The aim is to adapt relaxation-weighted MRI (a fast measurement) as a proxy for diffusion-tensor mapping of AC (a slow measurement)
  2. Development of methodology for interpretation of spin-relaxation maps of the joint as a whole in order to evaluate the 3D organisation of the collagen fibre network throughout the entire joint
  3. Investigation of reorganisation of the collagen scaffold of AC under mechanical load. This will be done using a purpose-built MRI cartilage consolidometer - a world-first instrument built in collaboration with the Engineering Faculty and used for mechanical testing of cartilage
  4. Development of efficient algorithms for processing and visualisation of spin-relaxation and diffusion-tensor measurements
  5. Simulations of the molecular hydrodynamics of water in AC and their use for quantitative interpretation of MRI measurements (see the next project description)

References:

  • SK de Visser, RW Crawford, JM Pope. Osteoarthr. Cartilage 16, 83-89 (2008)
  • SK de Visser, JC Bowden, E Wentrup-Byrne, L Rintoul, T Bostrom, JM Pope, KI Momot. Osteoarthr. Cartilage 16, 689-697 (2008)
Study level
Honours
Supervisors
QUT
Organisational unit

Science and Engineering Faculty

Research area

Chemistry

Contact

Please contact the supervisor.