Abstract #2355

Rapid Whole-Brain Myelin Water Mapping Using Multi-Component Gradient Echo Sampling of Spin Echoes (McGESSE)

Yann Gagnon¹,², Neil Gelman¹,², Rob Nicolson³, Jean Thberge¹,²

¹Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; ³Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

The myelin water fraction describes the proportion of the multi-exponential T2 decay in white matter originating from water trapped within the bi-layers of the myelin sheath. The most established method used to obtain the MWF involves the acquisition of 32 or more spin echoes but the inability to perform a multi-slice acquisition and the high specific absorption rate of this method are drawbacks that have motivated the development of alternative techniques. In this work, we described the in-vivo implementation of a novel strategy for rapid whole brain MWF mapping, based on the multi-component gradient echo sampling of spin echoes (mcGESSE).