Preliminary results from in vivo sodium MRI of human patellar articula
r cartilage are presented. Sodium images generated of an in vitro bovi
ne patella clearly distinguish the region of proteoglycan depletion fr
om the region of healthy cartilage. This provides the first evidence t
hat sodium imaging may be used to detect changes due to osteoarthritis
in vivo, The process of optimizing imaging time acid signal-to-noise
ratio, as well as potential implications in the detection of osteoarth
ritic change, are discussed.