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Contrast enrichment of spinal cord MR imaging using a ratio of T1‐weighted and T2‐weighted signals
Author(s) -
Teraguchi Masatoshi,
Yamada Hiroshi,
Yoshida Munehito,
Nakayama Yoshiaki,
Kondo Tomoyoshi,
Ito Hidefumi,
Terada Masaki,
Kaneoke Yoshiki
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.24456
Subject(s) - contrast (vision) , spinal cord , medicine , nuclear magnetic resonance , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear medicine , biomedical engineering , radiology , computer science , physics , artificial intelligence , psychiatry
Purpose We aimed to assess if the T1‐weighted (T1w)/T2‐weighted (T2w) signal ratio could be used to improve image contrast in MR spinal cord imaging. Materials and Methods T1w and T2w cervical spinal cord MR images were acquired from 23 normal subjects using 3 Tesla (T) MR scanner. In addition, a multiple sclerosis patient, and a cervical spondylotic myelopathy patient were evaluated. White matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) signal intensities were measured for each image (T1w, T2w, and T1w/T2w) for seven cervical segments in each subject to calculate the contrast. Age‐related changes in signal intensity were assessed at each location (lateral column, anterior column, dorsal column, and GM) for each image. Additionally, the imaging results of two subjects with spinal diseases and the controls were numerically compared. Results The contrast between the WM and GM in the T1w/T2w ratio image was approximately twice as much as that in the T1w and T2w images (mean ± SD = 1.8 ± 0.4). The signal intensity ratio was related to age. For both clinical patients, the signal intensities were significantly lower in the lesion areas in the ratio images. Conclusion The T1w/T2w ratio images demonstrated increased image contrast compared with T1w and T2w images alone and, reduced inter‐individual signal intensity differences. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2014;40:1199–1207 . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .