Abstract #0803

Fast Positive-Contrast Imaging of SPIO-Labeled Cells with Low-Angle Alternating-TR SSFP

Tolga ukur¹, Mayumi Yamada², William R. Overall¹, Phillip Yang², Dwight G. Nishimura¹

¹Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; ²School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

There has been recent interest in positive-contrast MRI methods for tracking cells labeled with super paramagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles. High off-resonant signal can be generated by utilizing the low-angle SSFP response to achieve fast high-resolution imaging. However, the positive contrast is compromised by the limited suppression of on-resonant and fat signals. In this work, we investigate an improved technique based on alternating-TR SSFP to achieve reliable background suppression. Sensitivity measurements are performed, and phantom and in vivo data are presented to demonstrate the reliability of the generated contrast.