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Abstract #3312

Myelin-sensitive indices in multiple sclerosis: the unseen qualities of qualitative clinical MRI

Antonio Ricciardi1,2, Francesco Grussu1,3, Marco Battiston1, Ferran Prados1,2,4, Baris Kanber2, Rebecca S Samson1, Daniel C Alexander3, Declan T Chard1,5, and Claudia A M Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott1,6,7

1Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 2Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 3Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 4Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 5National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), University College London Hospital (UCLH) Biomedical Research Center, London, United Kingdom, 6Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, 7Brain MRI 3T Research Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy

Specialised quantitative MRI techniques, while considered state-of-the-art for quantitative studies, increase acquisition times and costs. On the other hand, clinical techniques routinely added to every MR-protocol are dismissed from quantitative analyses because labelled as qualitative. In this study, macromolecular tissue volume (MTV) and T1-/T2-weighted ratio (T1w/T2w) maps extracted from clinical images were compared with magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR, gold standard for myelin mapping) to assess whether clinical scans can also be used for myelin mapping in multiple sclerosis. Good correlation and similar sensitivity to disease were observed for both comparisons, with MTV appearing overall more reliable than T1w/T2w when compared with MTR.

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