Stimulated-Echo DTI with Magnetization Transfer Contrast for Myelin Specificity

Alexandru Vlad Avram¹, Arnaud Guidon¹, Allen W. Song¹

We present a stimulated echo DTI sequence with magnetization transfer capable of imaging the diffusion anisotropy of proton pools in myelin water. Moreover, we establish a theoretical model for estimating the anisotropy of the low T2 (myelin) and high T2 (axonal) water compartments in the white matter. Results confirm that the anisotropy of the exchanged magnetization is more similar to that of the low T2 compartment, and appears to be the main contributor to the anisotropy of the myelin water. We anticipate that this new technique will be used clinically for early diagnosis of white matter pathology (e.g. demyelination).