A novel magnetic resonance imaging postprocessing technique for the assessment of intervertebral disc degeneration—Correlation with histological grading in a rabbit disc degeneration model

INTRODUCTION: Estimation of intervertebral disc degeneration on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is challenging. Qualitative schemes used in clinical practice correlate poorly with pain and quantitative techniques have not entered widespread clinical use. METHODS: As part of a prior study, 25 New Zealand white rabbits underwent annular puncture to induce disc degeneration in 50 noncontiguous lumbar discs. At 16 weeks, the animals underwent multi‐echo T2 MRI scanning and were euthanized. The discs were stained and examined histologically. Quantitative T2 relaxation maps were prepared using the nonlinear least squares method. Decay Variance maps were created using a novel technique of aggregating the deviation in the intensity of each echo signal from the expected intensity based on the previous rate of decay. RESULTS: Decay Variance maps showed a clear and well demarcated nucleus pulposus with a consistent rate of decay (low Decay Variance) in healthy discs that showed progressively more variable decay (higher Decay Variance) with increasing degeneration. Decay Variance maps required significantly less time to generate (1.0 ± 0.0 second) compared with traditional T2 relaxometry maps (5 (±0.9) to 1788.9 (±116) seconds). Histology scores correlated strongly with Decay Variance scores (r = 0.82, P < .01) and weakly with T2 signal intensity (r = 0.32, P < .01) and quantitative T2 relaxometry (r = 0.39, P < .01). Decay Variance had superior sensitivity and specificity for the detection of degenerate discs when compared to T2 signal intensity or Quantitative T2 mapping. CONCLUSION: Our results show that using a multi‐echo T2 MRI sequence, Decay Variance can quantitatively assess disc degeneration more accurately and with less image‐processing time than quantitative T2 relaxometry in a rabbit disc puncture model. The technique is a viable candidate for quantitative assessment of disc degeneration on MRI scans. Further validation on human subjects is needed.