Abstract #0473

Optimal framework for quantitative magnetization transfer imaging of small structures

Marco Battiston¹, Francesco Grussu¹, Andrada Ianus^2,3, Torben Schneider⁴, Ferran Prados^1,5, James Fairney⁶, Sebastien Ourselin⁵, Daniel C Alexander², Mara Cercignani⁷, Claudia A M Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott^1,8,9, and Rebecca S Samson¹

¹UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL, London, United Kingdom, ²Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, UCL, London, United Kingdom, ³Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Guilford, United Kingdom, ⁵Translational Imaging Group, Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, UCL, London, United Kingdom, ⁶Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, UCL, London, United Kingdom, ⁷CISC, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom, ⁸Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, ⁹Brain MRI 3T Mondino Research Center, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy

Quantitative Magnetization Transfer (qMT) Imaging allows quantification of parameters describing the macromolecular component of tissues, potentially specific for myelin in the central nervous system. To date, applications of qMT in small structures (e.g. the spinal cord) have been hampered by prohibitively long acquisition. We present a framework for robust qMT examinations in small structures. It consists of: a dedicated MT-weighted sequence for reduced field-of-view imaging, explicit modelling of the non-steady state signal, and optimal definition of the sampling scheme. Superiority of the framework compared to a conventional qMT protocol is demonstrated in the healthy spinal cord and in the brainstem.

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