Abstract #1696

Ungersma S, Matter N, Venook R, Macovski A, Conolly S, Scott G, Gold G

Prepolarized MRI can polarize a sample at one field, then allow the magnetization to evolve at an evolutionary field strength before imaging. Subtracting images collected with two different evolutionary field strengths yields contrast reflecting the slope of the T1 vs. field dispersion curve. Gadolinium-based contrast agents have a significant slope to their T1 dispersion curves. Because fat has a flat T1 dispersion curve, subtracting images with different evolution field strengths will remove the fat signal. This technique can therefore be used to suppress fat signal while retaining contrast-enhanced signal, which is important for diagnosing bone marrow diseases such as osteomyelitis.