Abstract #1716

Witschey W, Wang C, Johannessen W, Niyogi S, Borthakur A, Elliott D, Reddy R

We obtained T1 maps for nine cadaver spine specimens (mean age: 45, range: 22-66) at 1.5 T. The average T1r relaxation time and the range of observed T1r throughout the L2/L3 intervertebral disk nucleus pulposus are shown to decrease with specimen age. We show here the average T1r relaxation time and T1r range has strong linear correlation with age, with correlation coefficient R= 0.82 and R=0.87, respectively.