Transverse Relaxation Time (transverse + relaxation_time)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping in the brain with off-resonance correction using phase-cycled steady-state free precession imaging

JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 2 2009
Sean C.L. Deoni PhD
Abstract Purpose To investigate a new approach for more completely accounting for off-resonance affects in the DESPOT2 (driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T2) mapping technique. Materials and Methods The DESPOT2 method derives T2 information from fully balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) images acquired over multiple flip angles. Off-resonance affects, which present as bands of altered signal intensity throughout the bSSFP images, results in erroneous T2 values in the corresponding calculated maps. Radiofrequency (RF) phase-cycling, in which the phase of the RF pulse is incremented along the pulse train, offers a potential method for eliminating these artifacts. In this work we present a general method, referred to as DESPOT2, with full modeling (DESPOT2-FM), for deriving T2, as well as off-resonance frequency, from dual flip angle bSSFP data acquired with two RF phase increments. Results The method is demonstrated in vivo through the acquisition of whole-brain, 1 mm3 isotropic T2 maps at 3T and shown to provide near artifact-free maps, even in areas with steep susceptibility-induced gradients. Conclusion DESPOT2-FM offers an efficient method for acquiring high spatial resolution, whole-brain T2 maps at 3T with high precision and free of artifact. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;30:411,417. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Effects of Abstinence From Alcohol on the Broad Phospholipid Signal in Human Brain: An In Vivo 31P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2001
M. R. Estilaei
Background: In vivo phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) at a magnetic field strength of 1.5 T allows measurement of fairly mobile membrane phospholipids in the human brain. We previously showed that subjects who are heavy drinkers had a smaller signal and a shorter transverse relaxation time (T2) of white matter phospholipids than light drinkers, which suggested lower concentrations and molecular mobility of phospholipids in heavy drinkers. The purpose of the present study was to measure if such chronic alcohol-induced white matter tissue changes are persistent in long-term abstinent alcoholics. Methods: Fourteen abstinent alcoholics (mean age 45 years, seven men and seven women) were studied by localized 31P MRS in the centrum semiovale and were compared with 13 male, alcohol-dependent, heavy drinkers and 23 nondependent light drinkers (17 men, 6 women) of similar age. Methods for measurements of the broad membrane phospholipid signal and its relaxation time were described previously. Results: Phospholipid concentrations and relaxation times in alcoholics abstinent for an average of 31 months were not significantly different from those measured in light drinkers. The contribution of fast and slowly relaxing signal components to the broad phospholipid signal, however, was still different in abstinent alcoholics compared with light drinkers. No effects of sex or of family history of alcoholism were noted on any of our spectroscopic measures within the light-drinking or abstinent groups. Conclusions: Most of our results suggest at least partial recovery of chronic alcohol-induced white matter phospholipid damage with long-term abstinence. They offer myelination changes and/or dendritic rearborization as a possible mechanism for the commonly observed white matter volume gain with prolonged abstinence. But the results also suggest a persistent abnormality in the nature and/or physical properties of white matter phospholipids in long-term abstinent alcoholics. [source]


Nuclear magnetic resonance water relaxation time changes in bananas during ripening: a new mechanism

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 12 2010
Fayene Zeferino Ribeiro
Abstract BACKGROUND: Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of banana fragments during ripening show an increase on the water transverse relaxation time (T2) and a decrease in water self-diffusion coefficient (D). As T2 and D are normally directly correlated, we studied these two properties in intact bananas during ripening, in an attempt to rule out the effect of injury on the apparent discrepancies in the behavior of T2 and D. RESULTS: The results show that injury in bananas causes a decrease in T2 of the water in vacuoles (T2vac). They also show that T2vac increased and D decreased during ripening, ruling out the injury effect. To explain the apparent discrepancies, we propose a new hypothesis for the increase in T2 values, based on the reduction of Fe3+ ions to Fe2+ by galacturonic acid, produced by the hydrolysis of pectin and a decrease in internal oxygen concentration during ripening. CONCLUSION: As injury alters T2 values it is necessary to use intact bananas to study relaxation times during ripening. The novel interpretation for the increase in T2vac based on reduction of Fe+3 and O2 concentration is an alternative mechanism to that based on the hydrolysis of starch in amyloplasts. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Metabolite proton T2 mapping in the healthy rhesus macaque brain at 3 T

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 5 2009
Songtao Liu
Abstract The structure and metabolism of the rhesus macaque brain, an advanced model for neurologic diseases and their treatment response, is often studied noninvasively with MRI and 1H-MR spectroscopy. Due to the shorter transverse relaxation time (T2) at the higher magnetic fields these studies favor, the echo times used in 1H-MR spectroscopy subject the metabolites to unknown T2 weighting, decreasing the accuracy of quantification which is key for inter- and intra-animal comparisons. To establish the "baseline" (healthy animal) T2 values, we mapped them for the three main metabolites' T2s at 3 T in four healthy rhesus macaques and tested the hypotheses that their mean values are similar (i) among animals; and (ii) to analogs regions in the human brain. This was done with three-dimensional multivoxel 1H-MR spectroscopy at (0.6 × 0.6 × 0.5 cm)3 = 180 ,L spatial resolution over a 4.2 × 3.0 × 2.0 = 25 cm3 (,30%) of the macaque brain in a two-point protocol that optimizes T2 precision per unit time. The estimated T2s in several gray and white matter regions are all within 10% of those reported in the human brain (mean ± standard error of the mean): N -acetylaspartate = 316 ± 7, creatine = 177 ± 3, and choline = 264 ± 9 ms, with no statistically significant gray versus white matter differences. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Quantitative magnetization transfer mapping of bound protons in multiple sclerosis

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 1 2003
D. Tozer
Abstract Quantitative analysis of magnetization transfer images has the potential to allow a more thorough characterization of the protons, both bound and free, in a tissue by extracting a number of parameters relating to the NMR properties of the protons and their local environment. This work develops previously presented techniques to produce estimates of parameters such as the bound proton fraction, f, and the transverse relaxation time of the bound pool, T2B, for the whole brain in a clinically acceptable imaging time. This is achieved by limiting the number of data collected (typically to 10); to collect 28 5-mm slices with a reconstructed resolution of 0.94 × 0.94 mm. The protocol takes 82 sec per data point. The fitting technique is assessed against previous work and for fitting failures. Maps and analysis are presented from a group of seven controls and 20 multiple sclerosis patients. The maps show that the parameters are sensitive to tissue-specific differences and can detect pathological change within lesions. Statistically significant differences in parameters such as T2B and f are seen between normal-appearing white matter, multiple sclerosis lesions, and control white matter. Whole-brain histograms of these parameters are also presented, showing differences between patients and controls. Magn Reson Med 50:83,91, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Pitfalls and advantages of different strategies for the absolute quantification of N -acetyl aspartate, creatine and choline in white and grey matter by 1H-MRS

NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 10 2009
E. Malucelli
Abstract This study extensively investigates different strategies for the absolute quantitation of N -acetyl aspartate, creatine and choline in white and grey matter by 1H-MRS at 1.5,T. The main focus of this study was to reliably estimate metabolite concentrations while reducing the scan time, which remains as one of the main problems in clinical MRS. Absolute quantitation was based on the water-unsuppressed concentration as the internal standard. We compared strategies based on various experimental protocols and post-processing strategies. Data were obtained from 30 control subjects using a PRESS sequence at several TE to estimate the transverse relaxation time, T2, of the metabolites. Quantitation was performed with the algorithm QUEST using two different metabolite signal basis sets: a whole-metabolite basis set (WhoM) and a basis set in which the singlet signals were split from the coupled signals (MSM). The basis sets were simulated in vivo for each TE used. Metabolites' T2s were then determined by fitting the estimated signal amplitudes of the metabolites obtained at different TEs. Then the absolute concentrations (mM) of the metabolites were assessed for each subject using the estimated signal amplitudes and either the mean estimated relaxation times of all subjects (mean protocol, MP) or the T2 estimated from the spectra derived from the same subject (individual protocol, IP). Results showed that MP represents a less time-consuming alternative to IP in the quantitation of brain metabolites by 1H-MRS in both grey and white matter, with a comparable accuracy when performed by MSM. It was also shown that the acquisition time might be further reduced by using a variant of MP, although with reduced accuracy. In this variant, only one water-suppressed and one water-unsuppressed spectra were acquired, drastically reducing the duration of the entire MRS examination. However, statistical analysis highlights the reduced accuracy of MP when performed using WhoM, particularly at longer echo times. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Influence of the season on the relationships between NMR transverse relaxation data and water-holding capacity of turkey breast meat

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 12 2004
Maurizio Bianchi
Abstract In the last few years the poultry industry has seen a significant deterioration in meat quality properties during the summer season. The objective of this study was to evaluate the seasonal effect (summer and winter) on turkey meat quality assessed by both conventional and low-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (LR-NMR) analysis. Eighty-eight breast muscle samples (35 winter and 53 summer) from BUT-Big 6 turkeys belonging to 16 different flocks, were randomly collected from a commercial processing plant. The samples were analysed for transverse relaxation times (T2) by LR-NMR and for initial pH (15 min post mortem), ultimate pH (24 h post mortem) and pH after cooking, temperature at 15 min post mortem, water-holding capacity (WHC, drip loss, filter paper press wetness and cooking loss) at 24 h post mortem, colour of raw and cooked meat and chemical composition (moisture, lipids and proteins). The results indicate that, during the summer season, turkey breast meat undergoes a relevant WHC decrease. Cluster analysis of the raw LR-NMR data evidenced the presence of two groups corresponding to samples harvested in each different season. Correlations between the LR-NMR signal and the conventional parameters measuring WHC were obtained by a recently proposed type of principal component regression (PCR) termed relative standard deviation PCR. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry [source]