Figure 1: Bar graph shows cartilage SNR efficiency values for fluctuating equilibrium (FEMR), 2D fast SE, and 3D SPGR MR imaging sequences. SNR efficiency is SNR divided by the square root of the imaging time. The cartilage SNR efficiency was significantly higher for the fluctuating equilibrium sequence (* = P < .01) than for both the 3D SPGR and the 2D fast SE sequences. The cartilage SNR efficiency for the 3D SPGR sequence was significantly higher than that for the 2D fast SE sequence (** = P < .01). Error bars indicate standard deviations.