The examination of knee cartilage degradation by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data is essential due to the reduction in physical activity of the population and a rising number of patients with osteoarthritis(OA). The main aim of this publication is to show a new approach for analyzing knee tissue by MRI data. The present paper investigates the problems of relaxation times calculation, medical image segmentation and statistical texture features calculation. Proposed paper describes an approach for medical image segmentation, relaxation times calculation and statistical texture features calculation. An important aspect of analysis of articular cartilage relaxation times changing is illustrated in the experimental part. The experimental part of the publication also describes the dependence between organic structure and relaxation times. The proposed approach the obtained results can be useful for early OA diagnostics.