Delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage or dGEMRIC measures the fixed-charge density and relative
proteoglycan
Proteoglycans are proteins that are heavily glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core protein" with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain(s). The point of attachment is a serine (Ser) residue to whic ...
content of articular
cartilage
Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...
using the spin-lattice relaxation time or T1 relaxation time. Current research is investigating the clinical application of dGEMRIC as a quantitative tool for monitoring cartilage function in diseased or repair cartilage.