Quantification of the Regional Non-Hemin Iron in Human Brain in Vivo Through the Apparent Transverse Relaxation Rate of the Tissue Water at 4.7T

Fumiyuki Mitsumori¹, Hidehiro Watanabe¹, Nobuhiro Takaya¹

Non-hemin iron (Fe) is known to cause neurodegeneration in several hereditary diseases. It has also been suspected to be closely related to the occurrence of Alzheimerfs and Parkinsonfs diseases. In the present study we propose a method to estimate the concentration of brain [Fe] in vivo through the high correlation between [Fe] and the apparent relaxation rate (R₂) of the tissue water in human brain at 4.7T. The estimate was significantly improved when the contribution of macromolecular fraction to R₂ was taken into account. The result of estimation on 54 healthy subjects will be presented.