Jiadi Xu1,2, kannie W. Y. Chan1,2, Xiang Xu2, Nibhay Yadav1,2, Guanshu Liu1,2, and Peter C. M. van Zijl1,2
1F. M. Kirby Center, Kennedy Kriger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States, 2Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
An on-resonance variable delay multi-pulse (onVDMP) scheme was developed
for separation and quantification of magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and total
fast-exchanging protons (TFP) contributions. Phantom studies of glucose, bovine
serum albumin (BSA) and hair conditioner show the capability of onVDMP to
separate out exchangeable protons with different exchange rates by their unique
signal buildup curves. Quantitative MTC and TFP maps acquired on healthy mouse
brains showed strong gray/white matter contrast for the slowly transferring MTC
protons while the TFP map was more uniform across the brain.
