There is an unmet need for non-invasive methods that provide rapid and accurate quantification of liver iron concentration (LIC) over a wide range of iron overload severity. Current R2 mapping techniques suffer from long acquisition times and limited spatial coverage. Recently, a phase-based R2 mapping technique for rapid whole-liver R2 quantification within a single breath-hold has been introduced. However, the feasibility of this method to quantify liver iron overload has not been demonstrated. In this work, we optimize and validate phase-based R2 mapping to quantify R2 in phantom experiments, healthy volunteers, and demonstrate feasibility in patients with iron overload.
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