Premium
Quantitative Skeletal Muscle Imaging Using 3D MR Fingerprinting With Water and Fat Separation
Author(s) -
Marty Benjamin,
Lopez Kolkovsky Alfredo L.,
Araujo Ericky C.A.,
Reyngoudt Harmen
Publication year - 2021
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.27381
Subject(s) - imaging phantom , undersampling , medicine , intramuscular fat , nuclear medicine , repeated measures design , analysis of variance , mathematics , biomedical engineering , statistics , computer science , biology , artificial intelligence , biochemistry
Background Quantitative muscle MRI is a robust tool to monitor intramuscular fatty replacement and disease activity in patients with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). Purpose To implement a 3D sequence for quantifying simultaneously fat fraction (FF) and water T 1 (T 1,H2O ) in the skeletal muscle, evaluate regular undersampling in the partition‐encoding direction, and compare it to a recently proposed 2D MR fingerprinting sequence with water and fat separation (MRF T 1 ‐FF). Study Type Prospective. Phantom/Subjects Seventeen‐vial phantom at different FF and T 1,H2O , 11 healthy volunteers, and 6 subjects with different NMDs. Field Strength/Sequence 3T/3D MRF T 1 ‐FF, 2D MRF T 1 ‐FF, STEAM MRS ASSESSMENT FF and T 1,H2O measured with the 2D and 3D sequences were compared in the phantom and in vivo at different undersampling factors (US). Data were acquired in healthy subjects before and after plantar dorsiflexions and at rest in patients. Statistical Tests Linear correlations, Bland–Altman analysis, two‐way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), Student's t‐ test. Results Up to a US factor of 3, the undersampled acquisitions were in good agreement with the fully sampled sequence (R 2 ≥ 0.98, T 1,H2O bias ≤10 msec, FF bias ≤4 × 10 –4 ) both in phantom and in vivo. The 2D and 3D MRF T 1 ‐FF sequences provided comparable T 1,H2O and FF values (R 2 ≥ 0.95, absolute T 1,H2O bias ≤35 msec, and absolute FF bias ≤0.003). The plantar dorsiflexion induced a significant increase of T 1,H2O in the tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum (relative increase of +10.8 ± 1.7% and + 7.7 ± 1.4%, respectively, P < 0.05), that was accompanied by a significant reduction of FF in the tibialis anterior (relative decrease of –16.3 ± 4.0%, P < 0.05). Some subjects with NMDs presented increased and heterogeneous T 1,H2O and FF values throughout the leg. Data Conclusion Quantitative 3D T 1,H2O and FF maps covering the entire leg were obtained within acquisition times compatible with clinical research (4 minutes 20 seconds) and a 1 × 1 × 5 mm 3 spatial resolution. Level of Evidence 2 Technical Efficacy Stage 2