Abstract #2883

Large field-of-view high resolution 3D imaging of the thoracolumbar nerve roots inside the spinal canal

Stefano Mandija^1,2, Martijn Froeling^1,2, Anja G. van der Kolk^1,2, Fredy Visser³, Andreas Rowald⁴, Loan Nguyen-Mattera⁵, Roberto Martuzzi⁵, Jean-Baptiste Ledoux⁶, Fabio Becce⁶, Jocelyne Bloch⁶, Gregoire Courtine^4,6, and Cornelis A.T. van den Berg^1,2

¹University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands, ⁴Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Swaziland, ⁵Fondation Campus Biotech Geneva, Geneva, Swaziland, ⁶University Hospital Lausanne, Lausanne, Swaziland

A 3D T2/T1-weighted balanced-SSFP sequence has been developed to visualize the nerve roots inside the thoracolumbar spinal canal and their exit point from the spinal cord for clinical 3T MRI systems and coil setups. This sequence allows acquisition of large field-of-view, high resolution (sub-millimeter), almost isotropic images in less than 5 minutes. Furthermore, it is fully balanced, thus allowing high SNR, and intrinsically flow compensated. Hence, CSF flow artifacts are avoided. The acquired volumes in 15 volunteers showed good contrast between CSF, spinal cord and nerve roots (negative contrast), which could allow adequate visualization of intra-spinal pathologies.

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