SWI filtered phase images demonstrate that tissue iron in the midbrain correlates with local capillary density

E. M. Haacke, Ph.D. , E. S. Manova, M. Ayaz, A. Khan, D. K. Kido, W. Kirsch Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, The MRI Institute for Biomedical Research, Detroit, Michigan, United States, Radiology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States, Neurological Surgery, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States Introduction: Iron plays a key role in many neurological processes in the brain and in neuro-degenerative disease. We have observed that the filtered phase images in susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) correlate well with the vascular content of a number of structures in the midbrain. The goal of this work is to demonstrate that the SWI phase (1) corresponds to the local non-heme iron content and not the local venous blood supply.