Silent myelin-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

TY - JOUR

T1 - Silent myelin-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

AU - Wood, Tobias

AU - Damestani, Nikou

AU - Lawrence, Andrew

AU - Ljungberg, Emil

AU - Barker, Gareth

AU - Solana, Ana Beatriz

AU - Wiesinger, Florian

AU - Williams, Steven

N1 - Copyright: © 2020 Wood TC et al.

PY - 2020/8/13

Y1 - 2020/8/13

N2 - Background: Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) is an emerging, uniquely myelin-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast. Current ihMT acquisitions utilise fast Gradient Echo sequences which are among the most acoustically noisy MRI sequences, reducing patient comfort during acquisition. We sought to address this by modifying a near silent MRI sequence to include ihMT contrast. Methods: A Magnetization Transfer preparation module was incorporated into a radial Zero Echo-Time sequence. Repeatability of the ihMT ratio and inverse ihMT ratio were assessed in a cohort of healthy subjects. We also investigated how head orientation affects ihMT across subjects, as a previous study in a single subject suggests this as a potential confound. Results: We demonstrated that ihMT ratios comparable to existing, acoustically loud, implementations could be obtained with the silent sequence. We observed a small but significant effect of head orientation on inverse ihMTR. Conclusions: Silent ihMT imaging is a comparable alternative to conventional, noisy, alternatives. For all future ihMT studies we recommend careful positioning of the subject within the scanner.

AB - Background: Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) is an emerging, uniquely myelin-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast. Current ihMT acquisitions utilise fast Gradient Echo sequences which are among the most acoustically noisy MRI sequences, reducing patient comfort during acquisition. We sought to address this by modifying a near silent MRI sequence to include ihMT contrast. Methods: A Magnetization Transfer preparation module was incorporated into a radial Zero Echo-Time sequence. Repeatability of the ihMT ratio and inverse ihMT ratio were assessed in a cohort of healthy subjects. We also investigated how head orientation affects ihMT across subjects, as a previous study in a single subject suggests this as a potential confound. Results: We demonstrated that ihMT ratios comparable to existing, acoustically loud, implementations could be obtained with the silent sequence. We observed a small but significant effect of head orientation on inverse ihMTR. Conclusions: Silent ihMT imaging is a comparable alternative to conventional, noisy, alternatives. For all future ihMT studies we recommend careful positioning of the subject within the scanner.

KW - MRI

KW - ihMT

KW - Silent MRI

KW - IhMT

KW - Myelin

KW - RUFIS

KW - ZTE

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089777795&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15845.2

DO - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15845.2

M3 - Article

C2 - 32832700

SN - 2398-502X

VL - 5

SP - 74

JO - Wellcome Open Research

JF - Wellcome Open Research

IS - 74

M1 - 74

ER -