T2 Mapping with GRAPPATINI for Routine Knee Evaluation

T2 mapping with GRAPPATINI, a combination of MARTINI (model-based reduction) and GRAPPA (parallel imaging reconstruction), was applied to routine knee evaluations and compared quantitatively to standard T2 mapping accelerated only with GRAPPA. Regions of articular cartilage, infrapatellar fat pad, and muscle were analyzed. T2 mapping with GRAPPATINI was faster by ~2.2x and provided similar T2 values in most regions except for the infrapatellar fat pad and femoral trochlea cartilage. This accelerated T2 mapping technique may facilitate the routine incorporation of quantitative T2 mapping retrospective knee studies of osteoarthritis in the cartilage and of muscle denervation.