Abstract #0196

Sensitivity of Relaxometry and Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping to Microscopic Iron Distribution

Timothy J Colgan^1,2, Gesine Knobloch¹, Scott B Reeder^1,2,3,4,5, and Diego Hernando^1,2

¹Radiology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ²Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ³Medicine, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁵Emergency Medicine, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, United States

MRI-based iron quantification enables the non-invasive assessment of tissue iron concentration. MRI relaxation parameters such as R2 and R2* are sensitive to iron concentration, but may depend on the microscopic spatial distribution of iron. Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) is a promising iron quantification technique, but its sensitivity to the spatial distribution of iron remains unknown. In this work, we performed simulations and in vitro experiments using whole versus lysed erythrocytes to investigate this sensitivity. Our results suggest that QSM, unlike R2 and R2* relaxometry, is independent of the microscopic distribution of iron.

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