title: Incorporating dixon multi-echo fat water separation for novel quantitative magnetization transfer of the human optic nerve in vivo.
abstract: The optic nerve (ON) represents the sole pathway between the eyes and brain; consequently, diseases of the ON can have dramatic effects on vision. However, quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) applications in the ON have been limited to ex vivo studies, in part because of the fatty connective tissue that surrounds the ON, confounding the magnetization transfer (MT) experiment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to implement a multi-echo Dixon fat-water separation approach to remove the fat component from MT images.
  
  
  
  MT measurements were taken in a single slice of the ON and frontal lobe using a three-echo Dixon readout, and the water and out-of-phase images were applied to a two-pool model in ON tissue and brain white matter to evaluate the effectiveness of using Dixon fat-water separation to remove fatty tissue from MT images.
  
  
  
  White matter data showed no significant differences between image types; however, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in variation in the out-of-phase images in the ON relative to the water images.
  
  
  
  The results of this study demonstrate that Dixon fat-water separation can be robustly used for accurate MT quantification of anatomies susceptible to partial volume effects resulting from fat. Magn Reson Med 77:707-716, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Alex K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Dortch
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsey M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Dethrage
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Bailey D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Lyttle
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Hakmook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: E Brian
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.|Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Seth A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: Dixon method; fat-water separation; optic nerve; qMT; quantitative magnetization transfer