Abstract #2263

Ma Y, Luci J, Wikswo J, Does M

Accurate non-invasive assessment of liver iron is essential for treatment of iron overload patients. We used an animal model to study how the NMR relaxation parameters change with liver iron contents in vivo. Using 4.7T scanner, both the longitudinal and transverse relaxation rate, R1 and R2, increase linearly with iron content, while R2* increases more rapidly when the iron concentration is higher than 0.8 mg Fe/g w. wt.. Comparing with R2, R1 is less sensitive, however, its correlation coefficient with iron content is higher. The magnetic susceptibility of iron overload liver, measured using a SQUID susceptomer, is also presented.