# Knee evaluation under mechanical loading by cones ultrashort echo time MR imaging

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $120,358

## Abstract

ABSTRACT:
Dr. Jerban is postdoctoral researcher with a multidisciplinary background who is proposing a research entitled
“Knee evaluation under mechanical loading by Cones Ultrashort Echo Time MR imaging” through NIH
K01 program under the mentorship of Drs. Christine Chung, Samuel Ward, and Jiang Du to develop into an
independent investigator. Improving the osteoarthritis (OA) diagnosis at early stage using Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) techniques are limited by three main barriers. First, the current clinical MRI techniques do not
acquire signal from short T2 tissues, such as the meniscus and the deep layer of cartilage. Second, most
Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI techniques that can acquire signal from short T2 tissues are orientation
sensitive. Third, knee MRI is routinely performed on joints at rest, which incompletely mimics the actual
physiological condition, particularly, the loading aspects. Recently, we have developed new UTE-MRI techniques
(UTE-Ad-T1ρ and UTE-MT) that are not orientation-sensitive and that are designed specifically for scanning short
T2 tissues of the knee. We have hypothesized that scanning knee joints during mechanical load application
using these orientation-insensitive techniques will reveal the mechanical properties of the joint tissues, which in
turn will help to distinguish between healthy, early stage and mild OA knee joints. We also hypothesized bone
remodels in order to enhance the support to cartilage/menisci regions with defected cartilage, which
complementarily confirms the early stage OA diagnosis. A research study is proposed to cover three main
specific aims: dissected specimens’ study, whole knee cadaveric study, and in vivo study. First, we will accelerate
the UTE-MRI techniques and then will investigate their variation patterns in healthy and moderate OA human
cartilage/menisci specimens during the loading/unloading process. We will also assess the supporting bone
specimens to compare with UTE variation patterns in cartilages/menisci under loading. Second, we will build and
verify a pneumatic loading setup for the cadaver whole knee study, which is meant to assess the temporal
variation of knees under a set of loading and unloading steps. Then the UTE-MRI variation patterns in joints from
healthy, mild OA, and moderate OA groups during the loading/unloading process will be investigated. Third, we
will design and build a separate loading device to perform the in vivo phase of the study. We will determine if in
vivo UTE-MRI variation pattern under loading are distinct for early stage OA patients, and if UTE-MRI/CT can
detect an improved bone structure and properties for early stage and mild OA knees. The feasibility of
accelerating our orientation-insensitive UTE-MRI techniques and the significant sensitivity of our techniques to
changes in knee tissues during mechanical load application (using an initial design of loading device) have been
demonstrated in our preliminary results. Dr. Jerban and his ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10800771
- **Project number:** 5K01AR080257-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** saeed jerban
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $120,358
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-05 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10800771

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10800771, Knee evaluation under mechanical loading by cones ultrashort echo time MR imaging (5K01AR080257-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10800771. Licensed CC0.

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