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• Clinical Article •
Quantitative detection of peri-Knee muscles in patellar instability patients using synthetic magnetic resonance imaging: A preliminary study
FENG Xiaohan  YAN Zhanxing  ZHANG Xinying  LIANG Wenhua  ZHANG Shengnan  ZHANG Ranxu  ZHAO Jian  CHEN Li  YU Hong 

DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.02.017.


[Abstract] Objective To investigate the value of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (SyMRI) in the quantitative assessment of peri-knee muscles in patients with patellar instability.Materials and Methods A total of 45 patients with patellar instability (88 knee joints) and 30 healthy volunteers (60 knee joints) were prospectively enrolled. All subjects underwent bilateral knee SyMRI, which produced conventional contrast-weighted images and quantitative T1, T2, and proton density (PD) maps. Via the ITK-SNAP software, T1, T2, and PD values of 8 knee muscles (vastus medialis, sartorius, gracilis, semimembranosus, semitendinosus, biceps femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius) were measured on transverse images. Statistical analyses were performed to compare T1, T2, and PD values between patients and volunteers, as well as among muscles in patients.​Results Inter-rater reliability of T1, T2, and PD measurements by two radiologists was excellent, with intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.928, 0.954, and 0.929, respectively. Compared with healthy volunteers, patients with patellar instability showed elevated T2 values in all muscles , with significant increases in vastus medialis, semimembranosus, biceps femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius (P < 0.05). Except for the vastus intermedius, the T1 values of the remaining muscles were decreased. Statistically significant differences were noted in T1 value changes among the gracilis muscle, biceps femoris muscle, and vastus lateralis (P < 0.05). PD values decreased in all muscles but without statistical significance (P > 0.05). Wilcoxon nonparametric test showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) in T2 values between the semitendinosus and vastus medialis among patients with patellar instability, whereas significant differences (P < 0.05) were noted between the vastus medialis and all other muscles.Conclusions Quantitative parameters of SyMRI sequences can assist in the quantitative assessment of peri-knee muscles in patients with patellar instability.
[Keywords] knee joint；muscle；patellar instability；synthetic magnetic resonance imaging；magnetic resonance imaging

FENG Xiaohan1   YAN Zhanxing1   ZHANG Xinying1   LIANG Wenhua1   ZHANG Shengnan1   ZHANG Ranxu1   ZHAO Jian1   CHEN Li2   YU Hong1*  

1 Department of Medical Imaging, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China

2 Department of Radiology, The Fourth People′s Hospital of Hengshui City, Hengshui 053099, China

Corresponding author: YU H, E-mail: yhdoctor82@163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-07-29
Accepted  2025-12-26
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.02.017
DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.02.017.

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