Paul Polak1, Robert Zivadinov1,2,
Guy Poloni1
1Buffalo Neuroimaging
Analysis Center, Department of Neurology, University at Buffalo, State
University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States; 2The Jacobs
Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology, University at Buffalo, State
University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States
Detection of brain tissue lesions via T2-weighted imaging is standard clinical practice in diagnosing and prognosis of multiple sclerosis. However, these methods suffer from the clinical/radiological paradox, in that poor or no correlation is found between clinical outcomes and MR metrics. Improving lesion sensitivity in MR techniques may help resolve this conflict. We propose an experimental method to optimize lesion contrast in a 3D FLAIR sequence using a region of interest analysis to optimize sequence parameters. The derived 3D FLAIR imaging sequence is superior to current clinical 2D and 3D FLAIR sequences, in both detection power and resolution.