Purpose Fast recovery fast spin-echo (FRFSE) is a new pulse sequence using a driven equilibrium pulse to convert residual transverse magnetization into longitudinal magnetization and has demonstrated improvements in T2-weighted imaging for the spine (1) and the temporal bone (2) predominately related to improvements in fluid contrast. Its possible value for brain imaging has not been tested and...

Introduction: Quantitative magnetization transfer imaging (QMTI) [1] yields the parameters – F, kf, R1f, T2f, and T2r – of the two-pool model for magnetization transfer (MT). Data are usually acquired using spoiled gradient-echo sequences with shaped off-resonance saturation pulses. The amplitude (or flip angle, α) and central frequency (Δ) of these saturation pulses are set according to the ne...

Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging quantitatively assesses cerebral white matter disease through its sensitivity to macromolecule-bound protons including those associated with myelin proteins and lipid bilayers. However, traditional MT contrast measured by the MT ratio (MTR) lacks pathologic specificity as demyelination, axon loss, inflammation and edema all impact MTR, directly and/or indirec...

Introduction: Current pelvic MRI protocols rely predominantly on anatomic sequences for evaluation of the uterus. Functional MR sequences may provide imaging biomarkers with added value for the detection, characterization, and follow-up of treatment response of benign and malignant uterine pathology. Examples of functional MR parameters that have been explored within the uterus in separate stud...

Magnetization transfer (MT) provides an indirect means to detect noninvasively variations in macromolecular contents in biological tissues, but, so far, there have been only a few quantitative MT (qMT) studies reported in cancer, all of which used off-resonance pulsed saturation methods. This article describes the first implementation of a different qMT approach, selective inversion recovery (S...

Quantitative magnetization transfer magnetic resonance imaging (qMT-MRI) was employed to characterize dry-cured ham tissues differing in anatomical positions and processing protocols. Experimentally obtained MR images of dry-cured ham sections were analyzed by the well-established binary-spin-bath (BSB) model. The model enabled an efficient discrimination between a free-water proton pool and a ...

BACKGROUND Systemic inflammation impairs brain function and is increasingly implicated in the etiology of common mental illnesses, particularly depression and Alzheimer's disease. Immunotherapies selectively targeting proinflammatory cytokines demonstrate efficacy in a subset of patients with depression. However, efforts to identify patients most vulnerable to the central effects of inflammatio...

INTRODUCTION: Gray matter demyelination has recently been recognized as an important pathological substrate of multiple sclerosis disease [1,2]. Magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) including both semi-quantitative (MT ratio) and quantitative (qMTI) approaches [3-6] has demonstrated high sensitivity to myelination in white matter [7,8]. Its applications to cortical gray matter characterization,...

PURPOSE The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of water compartmentation and heterogeneous relaxation properties on quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) imaging in tissues, and in particular whether a two-pool model is sufficient to describe qMT data in brain tumors. METHODS Computer simulations and in vivo experiments with a series of qMT measurements before and after i...