Premium
Variable flip angle‐based fast three‐dimensional T 1 mapping for delayed gadolinium‐enhanced MRI of cartilage of the knee: Need for B 1 correction
Author(s) -
Manuel Angela,
Li Wei,
Jellus Vladimir,
Hughes Timothy,
Prasad Pottumarthi V.
Publication year - 2011
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.22720
Subject(s) - flip angle , gadolinium , amplitude , excitation , cartilage , osteoarthritis , nuclear magnetic resonance , specific absorption rate , biomedical engineering , magnetic resonance imaging , materials science , nuclear medicine , physics , medicine , optics , computer science , radiology , anatomy , alternative medicine , quantum mechanics , pathology , antenna (radio) , metallurgy , telecommunications
Delayed gadolinium‐enhanced MRI of cartilage is a technique, which involves T 1 mapping to identify changes in the structural integrity of cartilage associated with osteoarthritis. Currently, the gold standard is 2D inversion recovery turbo spin echo, which suffers from long acquisition times and limited coverage. Three‐dimensional variable flip angle (VFA) is an alternate technique, which has been shown to be accurate when an estimate of T 1 is available a priori. This study validates the variable flip angle method for delayed gadolinium‐enhanced MRI of cartilage of the femoro‐tibial knee cartilage. When amplitude of (excitation) radiofrequency field inhomogeneities were minimized using nonselective pulses and amplitude of (excitation) radiofrequency field correction using an additional acquisition of a amplitude of (excitation) radiofrequency field map, the accuracy of T 1 measurements were improved, and slice‐to‐slice variations over the 3D volume were minimized. In conclusion, fast 3D T 1 mapping using the variable flip angle method with amplitude of (excitation) radiofrequency field correction appears to be an efficient and accurate method for delayed gadolinium‐enhanced MRI of cartilage of the knee. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.