Meeting Banner
Abstract #5124

Towards an In-Vivo and Post-Mortem Characterization of Chronic Multiple Sclerosis Lesions Using Susceptibility Related Mechanisms of Contrast at Ultra-High Field MRI with R2* and Phase Images

Bing Yao1, Francesca Bagnato2, Eiji Matsuura2, Hellmut Merkle1, Peter van Gelderen1, Henry McFarland2, Jeff H. Duyn1

1AMRI, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; 2Neuroimmunology Branch, NINDS, National Institutes of Health


High field magnetic susceptibility-weighted MRI provides information on healthy and diseased human brain. Although the sources that contribute to the R2* and frequency shifts associated with susceptibility contrast are not fully understood, previous studies suggest that iron and myelin content may contribute. In this study, we used in-vivo and post-mortem brain tissues of multiple sclerosis (MS) as a model of disease to investigate the contribution of tissue iron and myelin content to the image contrast. We found that the iron and myelin may affect phase and R2* differently.