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Abstract #4100

Pulmonary 3T MR Imaging with Ultra-Short TEs: Influence of Ultra-Short Echo Time on Pulmonary Functional and Clinical Stage Assessments of Smokers

Yoshiharu Ohno1, 2, Shinichiro Seki3, Mizuho Nishio1, 2, Hisanobu Koyama3, Takeshi Yoshikawa1, 2, Sumiaki Matsumoto1, 2, Nobukazu Aoyama4, Katsusuke Kyotani4, Makoto Obara5, Marc van Cauteren5, Masaya Takahashi6, Hideaki Kawamitsu4, Satoru Takahashi4, Kazuro Sugimura3

1Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan; 2Division of Functional and Diagnostic Imaging Research, Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan; 3Division of Radiology, Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan; 4Center forRadiology and Radiation Oncology, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan; 5Philips Healthcare, Tokyo, Japan; 6Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States


In 2010, pulmonary MR imaging using ultra-short echo times (UTE-MRI) was introduced as a new tool for quantitative measurement of T2* values in the lung. However, one of the technical problems associated with using this technique is thought to be determination of ultra-short TEs (UTEs) appropriate for this purpose. We hypothesized a shorter UTE interval is better for such assessment and classification in smokers. The purpose of this study was thus to assess the influence of UTE intervals, compared with that of quantitatively assessed thin-section CT, on pulmonary UTE-MRI for pulmonary functional loss assessment and clinical stage classification of smokers.