Quantitative MR imaging is a powerful tool for assessing biochemical changes in tissue. In this study, we propose to measure the transverse magnetization relaxation time, diffusivity, and magnetization transfer ratio for a whole intervertebral disc (IVD), including the annulus fibrosis, cartilaginous endplate (CEP), and nucleus pulposus, on a 3T pre-clinical scanner. The sequence parameters were optimized for high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio imaging and mapping, utilizing the high-performance gradient system on the pre-clinical scanner, and the echo times were sufficiently minimized to capture the fast-decaying CEP signals for all the quantitative imaging sequences.
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