Rebecca S. Samson1, Marios C. Yiannakas1, Mara Cercignani2, Xavier Golay3, Claudia A M Wheeler-Kingshott1
1NMR Research Unit, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, England, United Kingdom; 2Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; 3Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, England, United Kingdom
The Magnetisation Transfer Ratio (MTR), and quantitative Magnetisation Transfer parameters have proven to be sensitive to the diseased spinal cord (SC). However, SC imaging can be challenging. Rapid acquisition sequences such as Echo Planar Imaging (EPI) are desirable but may suffer from artefacts and image distortions. We present results using multi-shot gradient echo EPI and ZOOM EPI for time reduction in SC MTR and compare image quality and reproducibility with the gold standard spoiled gradient echo. ZOOM EPI results in superior image quality than multi-shot EPI, with less artefacts and good inter- and intra-subject reproducibility in whole cord MTR measurements.