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Abstract #1204

Incorporation of Rician Noise in the Analysis of Biexponential Transverse Relaxation in Cartilage using a Multiple Gradient Echo Sequence at 3T and 7T

Mustapha Bouhrara 1 , David A Reiter 1 , Hasan Celik 1 , Jean-Marie Bonny 2 , Vanessa Lukas 1 , Kenneth W Fishbein 1 , and Richard G Spencer 1

1 NIA, NIH, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 2 QuaPa, INRA, Saint Gens Champanelle, France

The noise distribution of magnitude MR data obtained through quadrature detection exhibits a Rician, rather than Gaussian, probability distribution. Previous work has assessed the importance of thisin fitting monoexponential decay curves. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in tissue compartmentation studies through use of multiexponential analysis. Accordingly, we extend the analysis of the effect of Rician noise to the much more complex problem of biexponential decay through use of Monte Carlo simulations, and phantom and cartilage explant studies. We find that explicit incorporation of the Rician statistical characteristics of the signal leads to markedly improved results.

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