» Articles » PMID: 39867448

Tendon Evaluation with Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI: A Systematic Review

Overview
Date 2025 Jan 27
PMID 39867448
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Tendon disease ranks among the leading reasons patients consult their general practitioners, comprising approximately one-third of musculoskeletal appointments. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is regarded as the gold standard for assessing tendons. Due to their short transverse relaxation time (T2), Tendons show up as a signal void in conventional MRI scans, which employ sequences with echo times (TEs) around several milliseconds. Ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequences utilize TEs that are 100-1,000 times shorter than those used in conventional sequences. This enables the direct visualization of tendons and assessment of their relaxation times, which is the basis for quantitative MRI. A systematic review was conducted on publications after 1990 in Google Scholar and PubMed databases. The search terms "ultrashort echo time," "tendon," and "UTE" were used to identify studies related to this investigation. This review discussed the current knowledge in quantitative UTE-MRI imaging of tendons. Quantitative UTE-T1, UTE-T2*, UTE-MT, and UTE-T1ρ techniques were described, and their reported applications in the literature were summarized in this review. We also discussed the advantages and challenges of these techniques and how these quantitative biomarkers may change in response to tendon pathology.

Citing Articles

Non-invasive evaluation of Achilles tendon and its enthesis using ultrashort echo time adiabatic T (UTE-Adiab-T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in psoriatic arthritis.

Moazamian D, Shaterian Mohammadi H, Athertya J, Daskareh M, Ma Y, Guma M Eur J Radiol. 2024; 183:111841.

PMID: 39667119 PMC: 11844800. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2024.111841.


Significant age-related differences between lower leg muscles of older and younger female subjects detected by ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer modeling.

Jerban S, Shaterian Mohammadi H, Athertya J, Afsahi A, Shojaeiadib N, Moazamian D NMR Biomed. 2024; 37(12):e5237.

PMID: 39155273 PMC: 11786624. DOI: 10.1002/nbm.5237.

References
1.
Ma Y, Zhao W, Wan L, Guo T, Searleman A, Jang H . Whole knee joint T values measured in vivo at 3T by combined 3D ultrashort echo time cones actual flip angle and variable flip angle methods. Magn Reson Med. 2018; 81(3):1634-1644. PMC: 6347520. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.27510. View

2.
Henkelman R, Stanisz G, Graham S . Magnetization transfer in MRI: a review. NMR Biomed. 2001; 14(2):57-64. DOI: 10.1002/nbm.683. View

3.
Robson M, Benjamin M, Gishen P, Bydder G . Magnetic resonance imaging of the Achilles tendon using ultrashort TE (UTE) pulse sequences. Clin Radiol. 2004; 59(8):727-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.crad.2003.11.021. View

4.
Chard M, Hazleman B . Shoulder disorders in the elderly (a hospital study). Ann Rheum Dis. 1987; 46(9):684-7. PMC: 1002233. DOI: 10.1136/ard.46.9.684. View

5.
Xie Y, Liu S, Qu J, Wu P, Tao H, Chen S . Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging UTE-T2* Mapping of Tendon Healing After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair: A Longitudinal Study. Am J Sports Med. 2020; 48(11):2677-2685. DOI: 10.1177/0363546520946772. View