MR Imaging Study Of The Lateral Ankle Ligaments On Various Oblique Planes At Natural Position

Background and Purpose: With the development of hardware and software of magnetic resonance imaging, it has been applied in the musculoskeletal system more frequently. It has the ability to depict the anatomy and pathologic changes clearly. Consequently, MRI has become another routine imaging modality in the musculoskeletal system. Due to its nonradiation, noninvasive, multi-plane and multi-sequence scan and higher resolution of soft tissue, MRI has been confirmed in some anatomically complicated joints, such as the ankle joint.Routine transverse, cornal and saggital planes are adequate in most body parts for MRI diagnosis and lesion localization. However, there are many ligaments and muscle tendons around the ankle joint, which makes the anatomy complicated. Routine slice orientations parallel to the standard space directions without angulation are not enough for diagnosis completely. So the present study is designed to investigate the display effects of the lateral ankle ligaments on various oblique planes, then the optimal slice orientations are determined for each lateral ligament. At the same time the signal characteristics and adjacent anatomy are also studied to form a theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis.