Abstract #4011

Sub-voxel Estimation of Fat Infiltration in Degenerative Muscle Disorders using Multi-T2 Analysis – a Quantitative Disease Biomarker

Jannette Nassar¹, Yann Le Fur², Dvir Radunsky¹, Tamar Blumenfeld-Katzir¹, David Bendahan², and Noam Ben-Eliezer^1,3,4

¹Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, ²CNRS, CRMBM, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France, ³Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, ⁴Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), New-York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States

T₂ relaxation is an effective biomarker for muscle pathologies including inflammation, necrosis, or fatty infiltration. Accurate quantification of T₂ values is hampered due to the inherent bias of fast multi-echo spin-echo (MESE) protocols by stimulated echoes. The echo-modulation curve (EMC) algorithm overcomes this problem and provides accurate T₂ values which are stable across scanners and scan-settings. In this work, we present an extension of the EMC algorithm for T₂-based fat/water quantification, alongside two new quantitative biomarkers of disease state. The technique is demonstrated on a calf muscle of a patient with Dysferlinopathy, and compared to conventional Dixon analysis.

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