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Abstract #0446

Transverse Relaxation Time (T2) Measurements of the Human Thigh Muscles at High Magnetic Field Using Segmented Echo-Planar Imaging.

Guillaume Duhamel1, Marc Jubeau1, 2, Michal Sdika1, Yann Le Fur1, Sylviane Confort-Gouny1, Christophe Vilmen1, Alexandre Vignaud3, Patrick J. Cozzone1, Julien Gondin1, David Bendahan1

1CRMBM, UMR 6612, CNRS , Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France; 2Laboratoire "Motricit, Interactions, Performance" - EA 4334, Nantes, France; 3SIEMENS Healthcare, Saint Denis, France


Transverse relaxation time is a relevant parameter used to distinguish activated from non activated muscles as a result of exercise. Widely used CPMG-based sequences suffered from long acquisition time and B1 inhomogeneities sensitivity, especially at high field. We propose a very simple multislice approach based on segmented echo-planar imaging to rapidly and accurately measure muscle T2 values at 3T. The proposed technique was first validated on a phantom study and then applied for in vivo T2 measurements in exercising muscle.