Abstract #5487

Comparison of Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) and Myelin Water Fraction (MWF) In-Vivo at 3T

Irene Vavasour^1,2, Anastasia Smolina^2,3, Erin MacMillan^2,4,5, Guillaume Gilbert⁴, Michelle Lam^2,6, Piotr Kozlowski^1,2,6,7, Carl Michal⁶, Alan Manning⁶, Cornelia Laule^1,6,8,9, and Alex MacKay^1,2,6

¹Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²UBC MRI Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, ⁴MR Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare Canada, Markam, ON, Canada, ⁵ImageTech Lab, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, ⁶Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁷4International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁸Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁹International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) shows promise as a myelin-specific MRI technique. Recent publications demonstrate that ihMT contrast is generated by long-lived dipolar couplings between protons on lipid molecules. We tested ihMT’s myelin specificity by comparing it to a more validated myelin measure, myelin water fraction (MWF), in 10 healthy volunteers. The ihMT ratio (ihMTR) correlated with MWF in white matter but MWF had a larger dynamic range. When MWF was zero, ihMTR was non-zero, supporting that ihMTR arises from all lipid molecules, not just those in myelin. ihMTR and MWF measure different, and complementary, aspects of tissue structure.

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