Quantitative Iron Mapping in Human Brain Based on the Apparent Transverse Relaxation Time

Fumiyuki Mitsumori¹, Hidehiro Watanabe¹, Nobuhiro Takaya¹

Iron is an essential element in human body, but its overabundance is toxic through the production of reactive oxygen species. We previously reported that the apparent transverse relaxation rate (R₂ = 1/T₂) in human brain obtained using a MASE sequence is well explained by a linear combination of the regional non-hemin iron concentration [Fe] and the macromolecular mass fraction f_M defined as 1 - water fraction. In the present study we attempted the quantitative iron mapping based on the above relationship between R₂, [Fe], and f_M. Iron distribution in normal brain and that with cavernous hemangioma was successfully visualized.