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Abstract #2418

Real-time Tagging of Muscle Dynamics in a 70cm Bore 1.5T Scanner

Guttman M, McVeigh E, Blemker S, Ozturk C
NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, DHHS

The purpose of this work was to test the ability of a wide bore (70cm diameter), 1.5T MR system to perform real-time tagging of skeletal muscle dynamics We present results from real-time tagging images of the thigh musculature during a full flexion-extension of the knee (motion not previously possible at 1.5T). A real-time SSFP sequence was programmed on a Siemens Espree scanner to yield approximately10 frames/sec, with interactive tagging available via a mouse-click. The tags were visible for approximately 800-1000ms in the real-time images (~10 frames); this was sufficient to visualize the strain in skeletal muscle groups during motion.