Samson, RS;
Ciccarelli, O;
Kachramanoglou, C;
Brightman, L;
Lutti, A;
Thomas, DL;
Weiskopf, N;
(2013)
Tissue- and column-specific measurements from multi-parameter mapping of the human cervical spinal cord at 3 T.
NMR in Biomedicine
, 26
(12)
pp. 1823-1830.
10.1002/nbm.3022.
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to quantify a range of MR parameters [apparent proton density, longitudinal relaxation time T1 , magnetisation transfer (MT) ratio, MT saturation (which represents the additional percentage MT saturation of the longitudinal magnetisation caused by a single MT pulse) and apparent transverse relaxation rate R2 *] in the white matter columns and grey matter of the healthy cervical spinal cord. The cervical cords of 13 healthy volunteers were scanned at 3 T using a protocol optimised for multi-parameter mapping. Intra-subject co-registration was performed using linear registration, and tissue- and column-specific parameter values were calculated. Cervical cord parameter values measured from levels C1-C5 in 13 subjects are: apparent proton density, 4822 ± 718 a.u.; MT ratio, 40.4 ± 1.53 p.u.; MT saturation, 1.40 ± 0.12 p.u.; T1 = 1848 ± 143 ms; R2 * = 22.6 ± 1.53 s(-1) . Inter-subject coefficients of variation were low in both the cervical cord and tissue- and column-specific measurements, illustrating the potential of this method for the investigation of changes in these parameters caused by pathology. In summary, an optimised cervical cord multi-parameter mapping protocol was developed, enabling tissue- and column-specific measurements to be made. This technique has the potential to provide insight into the pathological processes occurring in the cervical cord affected by neurological disorders.
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