Abstract #3623

Analysing McDESPOT Data with an Arbitrary Number of T2 Components

Jing Zhang¹, Alex L. MacKay¹,²

¹Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; ²Department of Physics and Astonomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

mcDESPOT derives two-component relaxation information from spoiled and fully balanced steady-state (SPGR and bSSFP) imaging data acquired over multiple flip angles. However, the two water-pool model may be inadequate to address the complex nature of water pools in brain. We analyzed mcDESPOT data using a T2 relaxation model with an arbitrary number of components. The results show that a two pool model may be unable to describe the complex water environments found in brain. MWF values obtained from the T2 distribution of mcDESPOT were smaller and closer to values obtained from the literature.