Abstract #2750

Monte Carlo Analysis of T1-Mixing Errors for MSE T2 Mapping

Andreas Petrovic^1,2, Eva Scheurer², Kathrin Yen², Rudolf Stollberger¹

¹Institute of Medical Engineering, University of Technology Graz, Graz, Styria, Austria; ²Ludwig Boltzmann Institute - Clincal Forensic Imaging, Graz, Austria

Quantitative MRI aims at providing a comparable measure of tissue condition by measuring physical properties. However, in reality the purpose of qMRI is limited by technical restrictions. T₂ mapping with multi spin echo sequences is usually impaired by T₁-mixing effects. The actual exponential T₂ decay is altered by contributions from stimulated echoes. In this study an error analysis has been carried out considering the mono-exponential model and an elaborate generating functions model that accounts for the systematic error. Simulations indicate that using the mono-exponential model yields largely overestimated T₂ values compared to the generating functions approach.