In vivo quantification of T1ρ using a multislice spin-lock pulse sequence

Abstract

A multislice spin-lock (MS-SL) pulse sequence is implemented on a clinical scanner to acquire multiple images with spin-lock-generated contrast of the knee joints of six healthy human subjects. The MS-SL sequence produces images with T1ρ contrast with an additional factor of intrinsic T 2ρ weighting, which hinders direct measurement of T 1ρ. A method is presented to compensate the MS-SL-generated data with regard to T2ρ in an effort to accurately calculate multislice T1ρ maps in a feasible experimental time. The T 2ρ-compensated multislice T1ρ maps produced errors in the measurement of T1ρ in healthy patellar cartilage of ∼5% compared to the gold standard measurement of T1ρ acquired with single-slice spin-lock pulse sequence. The MS-SL sequence has potential as an important clinical tool for the acquisition of multislice T 1ρ-weighted images and/or quantitative multislice T 1ρ maps. ©2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.