Characterization of Osteoarthritic and Normal Human Patella Cartilage by Computed Tomography X-ray Phase-Contrast Imaging

Abstract

This first proof-of-concept study demonstrates that high resolution phase contrast CT visualizes structural details in relatively thick ex vivo cartilage samples. Our results suggest that the technique permits differentiation of osteoarthritic and healthy cartilage by enabling assessment of histologic characteristics of cartilage structures.

Synchrotron- and laboratory-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging for imaging mouse articular cartilage in the absence of radiopaque contrast agents

“…Such methods have been used on cartilage before, often on thicker human cartilage samples [6][7][8].…”

“…This would provide both confirmation of the feasibility and important indications for the requirements that future developments of the laboratory-based CAXPCi system should fulfil. For these purposes, we decided to use analyser-based [6][7][8][9][10] synchrotron phase-contrast micro-CT (synXPC in the following), which is based on the introduction of an analyser crystal between the sample and the detector. The narrow reflectivity curve of the crystal is used to analyse the faint deviations in the X-ray direction (refraction) resulting from phase variations in the sample.…”

Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Phase-Contrast X-ray Computed Tomography: Quantitative Characterization of Human Patellar Cartilage with High-Dimensional Geometric Features

“…The phase-contrast effect associated with such refraction can be more pronounced than conventional absorption contrast, specifically for the energy range of X-rays used in diagnostic modalities, and for soft tissue types encountered in clinical practice [9]. This allows PCI to be effective in imaging tissue types where conventional absorption contrast is insufficient for soft tissue characterization, notably in breast [10,11] and cartilage imaging [5,[12][13][14]. Among the different PCI techniques, we specifically focus on the analyzer-based imaging (ABI) method [8,15,16], which has been applied in both ex vivo and in vivo cartilage studies and demonstrated greatly improved cartilage visualization [14,17].…”

“…This allows PCI to be effective in imaging tissue types where conventional absorption contrast is insufficient for soft tissue characterization, notably in breast [10,11] and cartilage imaging [5,[12][13][14]. Among the different PCI techniques, we specifically focus on the analyzer-based imaging (ABI) method [8,15,16], which has been applied in both ex vivo and in vivo cartilage studies and demonstrated greatly improved cartilage visualization [14,17]. In particular, Coan et al demonstrated the ability of PCI with computed tomography (PCI-CT) using the ABI method to visualize the internal architecture of the cartilage matrix at a micrometer scale resolution in ex vivo samples of human patellae [14].…”

Implementation of a double-grating interferometer for phase-contrast computed tomography in a conventional system nanotom® m

“…In the hard X-ray regime, phase contrast is often preferred over conventional absorption contrast for soft tissue imaging 3,4 and visualizing weak X-ray absorbing species in the direct neighborhood of stronger absorbing components, 5 in particular, for three-dimensional imaging of a cartilage which is involved in the degenerative changes of a joint, [6][7][8][9][10] providing imaging data of morphological features with unprecedented contrast. Disorders associated with cartilage degeneration, such as debilitating joint diseases, are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide.…”