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Simultaneous T 1 and T 2 mapping of the carotid plaque (SIMPLE) with T 2 and inversion recovery prepared 3D radial imaging
Author(s) -
Qi Haikun,
Sun Jie,
Qiao Huiyu,
Zhao Xihai,
Guo Rui,
Balu Niranjan,
Yuan Chun,
Chen Huijun
Publication year - 2018
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.27361
Subject(s) - imaging phantom , reproducibility , repeatability , nuclear medicine , mathematics , biomedical engineering , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , medicine , statistics
Purpose To propose a technique that can produce different T 1 and T 2 contrasts in a single scan for simultaneous T 1 and T 2 mapping of the carotid plaque (SIMPLE). Methods An interleaved 3D golden angle radial trajectory was used in conjunction with T 2 preparation with variable duration (TE prep ) and inversion recovery pulses. Sliding window reconstruction was adopted to reconstruct images at different inversion delay time and TE prep for joint T 1 and T 2 fitting. In the fitting procedure, a rapid B 1 correction method was presented. The accuracy of SIMPLE was investigated in phantom experiments. In vivo scans were performed on 5 healthy volunteers with 2 scans each, and on 5 patients with carotid atherosclerosis. Results The phantom T 1 and T 2 estimations of SIMPLE agreed well with the standard methods with the percentage difference smaller than 7.1%. In vivo T 1 and T 2 for normal carotid vessel wall were 1213 ± 48.3 ms and 51.1 ± 1.7 ms, with good interscan repeatability. Alternations of T 1 and T 2 in plaque regions were in agreement with the conventional multicontrast imaging findings. Conclusion The proposed SIMPLE allows simultaneous T 1 and T 2 mapping of the carotid artery in less than 10 minutes, serving as a quantitative tool with good accuracy and reproducibility for plaque characterization.