Patellofemoral cartilage compression and recovery in response to loading measured with dynamic MRI using prospective motion correction

The patellofemoral cartilage compression and recovery is measured with dynamic MRI in response to a bout of in situ loading in a cohort of ten healthy subjects. To mitigate motion artifacts arising from the loading paradigm, the experiments are performed with prospective motion correction based on optical tracking. The measured cartilage compression and recovery time course in response to loading and unloading is characterized by a larger fully elastic compression component adapting instantaneously to applied load changes, and a smaller compression component, which only gradually adapts to load changes and exhibits in particular a very protracted recovery after unloading.