UTE Imaging in the Musculoskeletal System

Overview

Journal J Magn Reson Imaging

Date 2014 Jul 22

PMID 25045018

Citations 120

Authors

Eric Y Chang

Jiang Du

Christine B Chung

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Tissues, such as bone, tendon, and ligaments, contain a high fraction of components with "short" and "ultrashort" transverse relaxation times and therefore have short mean transverse relaxation times. With conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences that employ relatively long echo times (TEs), there is no opportunity to encode the decaying signal of short and ultrashort T2 /T2 * tissues before it has reached zero or near zero. The clinically compatible ultrashort TE (UTE) sequence has been increasingly used to study the musculoskeletal system. This article reviews the UTE sequence as well as various modifications that have been implemented since its introduction. These modifications have been used to improve efficiency or contrast as well as provide quantitative analysis. This article reviews several clinical musculoskeletal applications of UTE.

Citing Articles

Estimation of Trabecular Bone Volume with Dual-Echo Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Significantly Correlates with High-Resolution Computed Tomography (CT).

Cheng K, Moazamian D, Namiranian B, Shaterian Mohammadi H, Alenezi S, Chung C J Imaging. 2025; 11(2).

PMID: 39997559 PMC: 11856473. DOI: 10.3390/jimaging11020057.

Tendon evaluation with ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI: A Systematic Review.

Malhi B, Jang H, Malhi M, Berry D, Jerban S Front Musculoskelet Disord. 2025; 2.

PMID: 39867448 PMC: 11759502. DOI: 10.3389/fmscd.2024.1324050.

Differentiation of histological calcification classifications in breast cancer using ultrashort echo time and chemical shift-encoded imaging MRI.

Ayoub Y, Cheung S, Maglan B, Senn N, Chan K, He J Front Oncol. 2025; 14:1475090.

PMID: 39741975 PMC: 11685069. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1475090.

Zero-echo-time sequences in highly inhomogeneous fields.

Borreguero J, Galve F, Algarin J, Alonso J Magn Reson Med. 2024; 93(3):1190-1204.

PMID: 39428921 PMC: 11680741. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.30352.

Collagen denaturation in post-run Achilles tendons and Achilles tendinopathy: In vivo mechanophysiology and magnetic resonance imaging.

Fang Y, Zhu D, Wei J, Qian L, Qiu R, Jia T Sci Adv. 2024; 10(40):eado2015.

PMID: 39356750 PMC: 11446262. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado2015.

References

Aspden R, Hukins D . Collagen organization in articular cartilage, determined by X-ray diffraction, and its relationship to tissue function. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1981; 212(1188):299-304. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1981.0040. View

Grodzki D, Jakob P, Heismann B . Ultrashort echo time imaging using pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA). Magn Reson Med. 2011; 67(2):510-8. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.23017. View

Lattanzio P, Marshall K, Damyanovich A, Peemoeller H . Macromolecule and water magnetization exchange modeling in articular cartilage. Magn Reson Med. 2000; 44(6):840-51. DOI: 10.1002/1522-2594(200012)44:6<840::aid-mrm4>3.0.co;2-k. View

Jarvinen M, Jozsa L, Kannus P, Jarvinen T, Kvist M, Leadbetter W . Histopathological findings in chronic tendon disorders. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1997; 7(2):86-95. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.1997.tb00124.x. View

Du J, Bydder M, Takahashi A, Chung C . Two-dimensional ultrashort echo time imaging using a spiral trajectory. Magn Reson Imaging. 2007; 26(3):304-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2007.08.005. View

Sanal H, Bae W, Pauli C, Du J, Statum S, Znamirowski R . Magnetic resonance imaging of the temporomandibular joint disc: feasibility of novel quantitative magnetic resonance evaluation using histologic and biomechanical reference standards. J Orofac Pain. 2012; 25(4):345-53. PMC: 4048068. View

Saligheh Rad H, Benny Lam S, Magland J, Ong H, Li C, Song H . Quantifying cortical bone water in vivo by three-dimensional ultra-short echo-time MRI. NMR Biomed. 2011; 24(7):855-64. PMC: 3684973. DOI: 10.1002/nbm.1631. View

Vande Berg B, Malghem J, Lecouvet F, Maldague B . Magnetic resonance imaging of normal bone marrow. Eur Radiol. 1998; 8(8):1327-34. DOI: 10.1007/s003300050547. View

Benjamin M, Milz S, Bydder G . Magnetic resonance imaging of entheses. Part 2. Clin Radiol. 2008; 63(6):704-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.crad.2007.12.010. View

10.

Carl M, Chiang J . Investigations of the origin of phase differences seen with ultrashort TE imaging of short T2 meniscal tissue. Magn Reson Med. 2011; 67(4):991-1003. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.23075. View

11.

Williams A, Qian Y, Chu C . UTE-T2∗ mapping of human articular cartilage in vivo: a repeatability assessment. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2010; 19(1):84-8. PMC: 3098496. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2010.10.018. View

12.

Petersen W, Tillmann B . Collagenous fibril texture of the human knee joint menisci. Anat Embryol (Berl). 1998; 197(4):317-24. DOI: 10.1007/s004290050141. View

13.

Gold G, Pauly J, Macovski A, Herfkens R . MR spectroscopic imaging of collagen: tendons and knee menisci. Magn Reson Med. 1995; 34(5):647-54. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.1910340502. View

14.

Horch R, Gochberg D, Nyman J, Does M . Non-invasive predictors of human cortical bone mechanical properties: T(2)-discriminated H NMR compared with high resolution X-ray. PLoS One. 2011; 6(1):e16359. PMC: 3025007. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016359. View

15.

Nightingale T, Mackay A, PEARCE R, Whittall K, Flak B . A model of unloaded human intervertebral disk based on NMR relaxation. Magn Reson Med. 2000; 43(1):34-44. DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1522-2594(200001)43:1<34::aid-mrm5>3.0.co;2-7. View

16.

Qian Y, Boada F . Acquisition-weighted stack of spirals for fast high-resolution three-dimensional ultra-short echo time MR imaging. Magn Reson Med. 2008; 60(1):135-45. PMC: 11864364. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.21620. View

17.

Ida M, Wakayama T, Nielsen M, Abe T, Grodzki D . Quiet T1-weighted imaging using PETRA: initial clinical evaluation in intracranial tumor patients. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2014; 41(2):447-53. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.24575. View

18.

Rahmer J, Bornert P, Groen J, Bos C . Three-dimensional radial ultrashort echo-time imaging with T2 adapted sampling. Magn Reson Med. 2006; 55(5):1075-82. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.20868. View

19.

Bydder G . Review. The Agfa Mayneord lecture: MRI of short and ultrashort T₂ and T₂* components of tissues, fluids and materials using clinical systems. Br J Radiol. 2011; 84(1008):1067-82. PMC: 3473831. DOI: 10.1259/bjr/74368403. View

20.

Lu A, Daniel B, Pauly J, Pauly K . Improved slice selection for R2* mapping during cryoablation with eddy current compensation. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2008; 28(1):190-8. PMC: 2632801. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21396. View