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Pulsed magnetization transfer contrast in gradient echo imaging: A two‐pool analytic description of signal response
Author(s) -
Pike G. Bruce
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.1910360117
Subject(s) - magnetization transfer , bloch equations , signal (programming language) , attenuation , nuclear magnetic resonance , saturation (graph theory) , physics , pulse sequence , biological system , contrast (vision) , magnetization , echo (communications protocol) , computational physics , mathematical analysis , optics , mathematics , computer science , magnetic resonance imaging , magnetic field , medicine , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , biology , computer network , radiology , programming language
Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging with a rapid gradientecho sequence and pulsed saturation provides an efficient means of acquiring high resolution three‐dimensional data in vivo. This paper presents a derivation of the theoretical steady‐state signal equation for this sequence based on the two‐site coupled Bloch equations. Numerical simulations are used to validate the derived expression and experiments are performed on an agar gel model and normal brain. Experimental agar data indicate that direct saturation of the liquid component can be a major source of signal attenuation whereas MT normally dominates in brain tissue. The signal equation presented here establishes the necessary theory for sequence design and optimization and provides insight into model parameters and experimental results.