Abstract #4233

T1 and T2 Mapping of the Human Cervical Spinal Cord at 3 Tesla

Maxim Bester^1,2, Matilde Inglese¹, Lazar Fleysher¹

¹Radiology and Neurology, New York University, New York, NY, United States; ²Eppendorf-Hamburg University, Hamburg, Germany

The cervical spinal cord (SC) is a frequent site of pathology in several neurological diseases. We measured the T1 and T2 relaxation times of the human SC using a 3-point GRE T1 mapping method with built-in B1-correction and spin-echo sequence with protocol optimization based on 2-point measurements of T2s respectively. The T1 relaxation times measured in our study were lower and the T2 relaxation values were higher than those reported previously. The latter might be explained by the fact that undesired diffusion weighting may be introduced by use of the TSE sequence leading to a decrease in T2 values.