Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex progression of joint degeneration that manifests as tissue changes, e.g. bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and osteophytes, on MRI. To better understand the physiology that drives these changes, [¹⁸F]-fluoride is a promising PET tracer of bone remodeling within OA lesions.

Most clinical PET scans look at static accumulation of tracer after an appropriate post-injection delay. However, kinetic modeling of dynamic PET data enables quantification of rate constants that describe how the tracer is metabolized by tissue. This study investigates dynamic uptake of [¹⁸F]-fluoride in OA-related BMLs and osteophytes observed on MRI. We aim to determine whether these pathologies have different metabolic rate constants from healthy bone. These new physiological parameters may help highlight underlying mechanisms of OA pathology on MRI scans and to tell which lesions are active parts of the disease.