A Novel Multiparametric Approach to 3D Quantitative MRI of the Brain.
Magnetic Resonance properties of tissues can be quantified in several respects: relaxation processes, density of imaged nuclei, magnetism of environmental molecules, etc. In this paper, we propose a new comprehensive approach to obtain 3D high resolution quantitative maps of arbitrary body districts, mainly focusing on the brain. The theory presented makes it possible to map longitudinal (R1), pure transverse (R2) and free induction decay ([Formula: see text]) rates, along with proton density (PD) and magnetic susceptibility (χ), from a set of fast acquisition sequences in steady-state that are highly insensitive to flow phenomena. A novel denoising scheme is described and applied to the acquired datasets to enhance the signal to noise ratio of the derived maps and an information theory approach compensates for biases from radio frequency (RF) inhomogeneities, if no direct measure of the RF field is available. Finally, the results obtained on sample brain scans of healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients are presented and discussed.
Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
Giuseppe
G
Palma
Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Enrico
E
Tedeschi
IRCCS SDN, Naples, Italy.
Pasquale
P
Borrelli
Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Sirio
S
Cocozza
Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Carmela
C
Russo
The MRI Institute for Biomedical Research, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Saifeng
S
Liu
Department of Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America.
Yongquan
Y
Ye
Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
Marco
M
Comerci
Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
Bruno
B
Alfano
IRCCS SDN, Naples, Italy.
Marco
M
Salvatore
Department of Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America; The MRI Institute for Biomedical Research, Detroit, MI, United States of America.
E Mark
EM
Haacke
Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
Marcello
M
Mancini
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000175:diagnosis; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio