<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> In magnetic resonance imaging, transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping is a useful quantitative tool enabling enhanced diagnostics of many brain pathologies. The aim of our study was to test the influence of different sequence parameters on calculated T2 values, including multi-slice measurements, slice position, interslice gap, echo spacing, and pulse duration. Measurements were performed using standard multi-slice multi-echo CPMG imaging sequence on a 1.5 Tesla routine whole body MR scanner. We used multiple phantoms with different agarose concentrations (0 % to 4 %) and verified the results on a healthy volunteer. It appeared that neither the pulse duration, the size of interslice gap nor the slice shift had any impact on the T2. The measurement accuracy was increased with shorter echo spacing. Standard multi-slice multi-echo CPMG protocol with the shortest echo spacing, also the smallest available interslice gap (100 % of slice thickness) and shorter pulse duration was found to be optimal and reliable for calculating T2 maps in the human brain.</p></abstract>

In magnetic resonance imaging, transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping is a useful quantitative tool enabling enhanced diagnostics of many brain pathologies. The aim of our study was to test the influence of different sequence parameters on calculated T2 values, including multi-slice measurements, slice position, interslice gap, echo spacing, and pulse duration. Measurements were performed using standard multi-slice multi-echo CPMG imaging sequence on a 1.5 Tesla routine whole body MR scanner. We used multiple phantoms with different agarose concentrations (0 % to 4 %) and verified the results on a healthy volunteer. It appeared that neither the pulse duration, the size of interslice gap nor the slice shift had any impact on the T2. The measurement accuracy was increased with shorter echo spacing. Standard multi-slice multi-echo CPMG protocol with the shortest echo spacing, also the smallest available interslice gap (100 % of slice thickness) and shorter pulse duration was found to be optimal and reliable for calculating T2 maps in the human brain.

Optimization of Brain T<sub>2</sub> Mapping Using Standard CPMG Sequence In A Clinical Scanner

Department of Medical Biochemistry, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Mala hora 4, 036 01 Martin, Slovakia

Measurement Science Review

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Optimization of Brain T Mapping Using Standard CPMG Sequence In A Clinical Scanner

In magnetic resonance imaging, transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping is a useful quantitative tool enabling enhanced diagnostics of many brain pathologies....

Optimization of Brain T₂ Mapping Using Standard CPMG Sequence In A Clinical Scanner

Published Online: May 08, 2014

Page range: 117 - 125

Received: Oct 31, 2013

Accepted: Mar 24, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/msr-2014-0016

Keywords
Magnetic resonance imaging, relaxation time, T2 mapping, brain, phantom

© by P. Hnilicová

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Optimization of Brain T2 Mapping Using Standard CPMG Sequence In A Clinical Scanner

Published Online: May 08, 2014

Page range: 117 - 125

Received: Oct 31, 2013

Accepted: Mar 24, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/msr-2014-0016

KeywordsMagnetic resonance imaging, relaxation time, T2 mapping, brain, phantom

© by P. Hnilicová

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Optimization of Brain T₂ Mapping Using Standard CPMG Sequence In A Clinical Scanner

Keywords
Magnetic resonance imaging, relaxation time, T2 mapping, brain, phantom