Abstract #0282

Rapid Myelin Water Imaging in Human Cervical Spinal Cord

Emil Ljungberg¹, Irene Vavasour², Roger Tam^2,3, Youngjin Yoo³, Alexander Rauscher⁴, David Li², Anthony Traboulsee⁵, Alex MacKay^1,2, and Shannon Kolind⁵

¹Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁵Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Myelin water imaging can quantify myelin in the cervical cord in vivo. However, the established 3D Turbo Spin Echo (TSE) approach has a lengthy scan time. We used a 3D Gradient Spin Echo (GRASE) sequence to speed up cervical cord myelin water acquisition by a factor of three. Average GRASE and TSE myelin water estimates were similar (GRASE: 23±1.5%; TSE: 24±3%) and significantly correlated (R²=0.69, p<0.001). 3D-GRASE showed good reproducibility with an average myelin water coefficient of variation of 6%. Our findings demonstrate that cervical cord myelin water data can reliably be collected in clinical feasible scan times.

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