T1, T2 relaxation and magnetization transfer in tissue at 3T

T1, T2, and magnetization transfer (MT) measurements were performed in vitro at 3 T and 37°C on a variety of tissues: mouse liver, muscle, and heart; rat spinal cord and kidney; bovine optic nerve, cartilage, and white and gray matter; and human blood. The MR parameters were compared to those at 1.5 T. As expected, the T2 relaxation time constants and quantitative MT parameters (MT exchange rate, R, macromolecular pool fraction, M0B, and macromolecular T2 relaxation time, T2B) at 3 T were similar to those at 1.5 T. The T1 relaxation time values, however, for all measured tissues increased significantly with field strength. Consequently, the phenomenological MT parameter, magnetization transfer ratio, MTR, was lower by approximately 2 to 10%. Collectively, these results provide a useful reference for optimization of pulse sequence parameters for MRI at 3 T. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

[1]  E. Purcell,et al.  Effects of Diffusion on Free Precession in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Experiments , 1954 .

[2]  S. Meiboom,et al.  Modified Spin‐Echo Method for Measuring Nuclear Relaxation Times , 1958 .

[3]  A. Sharp,et al.  Proton spin-lattice relaxation studies of nonmalignant tissues of tumorous mice. , 1972, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[4]  T. Foster,et al.  A review of normal tissue hydrogen NMR relaxation times and relaxation mechanisms from 1-100 MHz: dependence on tissue type, NMR frequency, temperature, species, excision, and age. , 1984, Medical physics.

[5]  C. Higgins,et al.  Magnetic resonance imaging of cardiac transplants: the evaluation of rejection of cardiac allografts with and without immunosuppression. , 1986, Circulation.

[6]  J. Polak,et al.  Proton magnetic resonance of early myocardial infarction in rats. , 1988, Investigative radiology.

[7]  R M Henkelman,et al.  Spin locking for magnetic resonance imaging with application to human breast , 1989, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[8]  Alex L. MacKay,et al.  Quantitative interpretation of NMR relaxation data , 1989 .

[9]  R. Bryant,et al.  Nuclear magnetic cross-relaxation spectroscopy , 1990 .

[10]  R M Henkelman,et al.  Quantitative interpretation of magnetization transfer , 1993, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[11]  C. Springer,et al.  Relaxographic imaging. , 1994, Journal of magnetic resonance. Series B.

[12]  M. Bronskill,et al.  Anisotropy of NMR properties of tissues , 1994, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[13]  R M Henkelman,et al.  Modeling magnetization transfer for biological-like systems using a semi-solid pool with a super-Lorentzian lineshape and dipolar reservoir. , 1995, Journal of magnetic resonance. Series B.

[14]  F. Jolesz,et al.  In vivo characterization of cytotoxic intracellular edema by multicomponent analysis of transverse magnetization decay curves. , 1995, Academic radiology.

[15]  R E Snyder,et al.  Multiexponential T2 relaxation in degenerating peripheral nerve , 1996, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[16]  M. Langer,et al.  MR imaging of the carpal tunnel. , 1997, European journal of radiology.

[17]  R M Henkelman,et al.  A flexible magnetization transfer line shape derived from tissue experimental data , 1997, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[18]  R M Henkelman,et al.  Water dynamics in human blood via combined measurements of T2 relaxation and diffusion in the presence of gadolinium , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[19]  R M Henkelman,et al.  Integrated analysis of diffusion and relaxation of water in blood , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[20]  D. Roberts,et al.  Magnetization transfer imaging of the brain: A quantitative comparison of results obtained at 1.5 and 4.0 t , 1999, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[21]  M. Bronskill,et al.  Analysis of changes in MR properties of tissues after heat treatment , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[22]  M. Bronskill,et al.  Characterizing white matter with magnetization transfer and T2 , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[23]  R A Knight,et al.  MR imaging of human brain at 3.0 T: preliminary report on transverse relaxation rates and relation to estimated iron content. , 1999, Radiology.

[24]  H. Rinneberg,et al.  Human cardiac imaging at 3 T using phased array coils , 2000, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[25]  G. B. Pike,et al.  Quantitative imaging of magnetization transfer exchange and relaxation properties in vivo using MRI , 2001, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[26]  R. Henkelman,et al.  Magnetization transfer in MRI: a review , 2001, NMR in biomedicine.

[27]  V J Schmithorst,et al.  Spatial variation in cartilage T2 of the knee , 2001, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[28]  W. Szeszkowski,et al.  Discrimination of benign from malignant hepatic lesions based on their T2-relaxation times calculated from moderately T2-weighted turbo SE sequence , 2002, European Radiology.

[29]  Rajiv Midha,et al.  Is multicomponent T2 a good measure of myelin content in peripheral nerve? , 2003, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[30]  Robert V Mulkern,et al.  Double inversion black‐blood fast spin‐echo imaging of the human heart: A comparison between 1.5T and 3.0T , 2003, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[31]  C. Springer,et al.  Effects of equilibrium exchange on diffusion‐weighted NMR signals: The diffusigraphic “shutter‐speed” , 2003, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[32]  Michael Erb,et al.  Comparison of longitudinal metabolite relaxation times in different regions of the human brain at 1.5 and 3 Tesla , 2003, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[33]  Graham Wright,et al.  Musculoskeletal MRI at 3.0 T: relaxation times and image contrast. , 2004, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[34]  Rajiv Midha,et al.  MR properties of excised neural tissue following experimentally induced inflammation , 2004, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[35]  Gaby S Pell,et al.  Voxel-based relaxometry: a new approach for analysis of T2 relaxometry changes in epilepsy , 2004, NeuroImage.

[36]  Rajiv Midha,et al.  Histological and magnetic resonance analysis of sciatic nerves in the tellurium model of neuropathy , 2005, Journal of the peripheral nervous system : JPNS.

[37]  Rajiv Midha,et al.  MR properties of excised neural tissue following experimentally induced demyelination , 2005, NMR in biomedicine.