title: MR relaxometry for the facial ageing assessment: the preliminary study of the age dependency in the MR relaxometry parameters within the facial soft tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the location-specific tissue properties and age-related changes of the facial fat and facial muscles using quantitative MRI (qMRI) analysis of longitudinal magnetization (T1) and transverse magnetization (T2) values.
  
  
  METHODS
  38 subjects (20 males and 18 females, 0.5-87 years old) were imaged with a mixed turbo-spin echo sequence at 1.5 T. T1 and T2 measurements were obtained within regions of interest in six facial fat regions including the buccal fat and subcutaneous cheek fat, four eyelid fat regions (lateral upper, medial upper, lateral lower and medial lower) and five facial muscles including the orbicularis oculi, orbicularis oris, buccinator, zygomaticus major and masseter muscles bilaterally.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Within the zygomaticus major muscle, age-associated T1 decreases in females and T1 increases in males were observed in later life with an increase in T2 values with age. The orbicularis oculi muscles showed lower T1 and higher T2 values compared to the masseter, orbicularis oris and buccinator muscles, which demonstrated small age-related changes. The dramatic age-related changes were also observed in the eyelid fat regions, particularly within the lower eyelid fat; negative correlations with age in T1 values (p<0.0001 for age) and prominent positive correlation in T2 values in male subjects (p<0.0001 for male×age). Age-related changes were not observed in T2 values within the subcutaneous cheek fat.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates proof of concept using T1 and T2 values to assess age-related changes of the facial soft tissues, demonstrating tissue-specific qMRI measurements and non-uniform ageing patterns within different regions of facial soft tissues.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Buch
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jara
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.|3 Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.|4 Department of Radiation Oncology, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sakai
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002610:Cheek / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005143:Eyelids / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D040521:Subcutaneous Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology
keywords: adipose tissue; ageing; facial muscles; magnetic resonance imaging; quantitative evaluation