Abstract #5620

Magnetization Transfer contrast in in-vivo Locus Coeruleus and Substantia Nigra compared to a Neuromelanin phantom

Stan C. J. van Boxel¹, Nikos Priovoulos¹, Heidi I.L. Jacobs^1,2,3, Benedikt A. Poser², and Dimo Ivanov²

¹Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life science, Alzheimer Center Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, ²Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, ³Department of Radiology, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Magnetization Transfer (MT) MRI has proven valuable in imaging the Locus Coeruleus (LC) and Substantia Nigra (SN). The MT contrast in the LC and SN is assumed to be caused due to the accumulation of neuromelanin. An agar-based phantom containing samples of two neuromelanin models was compared to the in vivo human LC and SN. MT spectra and relaxation times of the phantom, LC and SN were measured. While LC and SN show less MT effect, the phantom does not show neuromelanin-specific MT contrast, suggesting that these models are not representative of the in vivo LC and SN.

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