Association of Lumbar Trabecular Bone Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetization Transfer Ratio (UTE-MTR) with Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer (UTE-MT) technique can non-invasively quantify the macromolecular component changes. It has great potential to assess intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). In this study, we utilized the UTE-MT sequence to investigate the relationship between UTE-MT ratio (UTE-MTR) measurements of lumbar trabecular bone and IVDD. We found that the lumbar trabecular bone UTE-MTR negatively correlated with the IVDD grading. It demonstrates that the UTE-MTR of lumbar trabecular bone may serve as a useful biomarker to assess IVDD.