Garrett William Astary1, Xiaoming Chen2,
Malisa Sarntinoranont2, Thomas Harold Mareci3
1Biomedical Engineering,
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States; 2Mechanical
& Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida; 3Biochemistry
& Molecular Biology, University of Florida
In vivo rat spinal cord relaxation times (T1 and T2) and relative proton density (PD) values were measured at 4.7 T and 11.1 T. At both field strengths, six measurements were performed with a quadrature birdcage volume coil for excitation and quadrature surface coil for detection. At 4.7 T and 11.1 T, differences in WM and GM T1 were not statistically significant; however, differences in T2 and relative PD values were found to be statistically significant. Frequency dispersion of relaxation times showed T1 dependence of the dipolar relaxation mechanism and T2 dependence on dynamic dephasing in susceptibility gradients.