The simultaneous diagnosis of malalignment and liner wear in problematic primary total knee prosthesis with low-field MRI

Total knee arthroplasty is a cost-effective and frequently performed procedure for the treatmentof late-stage osteoarthritis. However, up to 8.5% of primary total knee prosthesis implants requirerevision surgery. It is important to understand the underlying pathology to reduce the chanceof recurring problematic knee prosthesis. To determine the presence or absence of possible un-derlying pathologies of problematic total knee prosthesis, many different imaging modalities arerequired. It is hypothesized that low-field MRI, due to its inherent lower susceptibility artifacts,can provide an alternative to simultaneously diagnose the pathologies of the problematic primarytotal knee prosthesis. In this study, a method to determine the malalignment and liner wear havebeen developed. The results of the measurements show some correspondence with the referencevalues proposed in the literature. Also, a difference between standing and supine imaging of thepatient is indicated in this study. However, to provide clinically relevant data, further researchis required. Future research should focus on increasing image quality, increasing study popula-tion, especially directly post-operative patients for direct comparison with the literature, and theindicated differences between standing and supine imaging should be investigated further.