Oliver Kraff1,2, Jean-Jacques Lemaire3,4, Jens M. Theysohn1,2, Mark E. Ladd1,2
1Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MRI, Essen, Germany; 2Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; 3Equipe de Recherche en Imagerie Mdicale, Univ. Clermont, Clermont-Ferrand, France; 4Service de Neurochirurgie A, Hp G Montpied, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand, France
This study aimed to perform relaxation measurements (T1, T2, and T2*) of the basal ganglia regions. Datasets of ten healthy volunteers were acquired on a 7T whole-body MR scanner using an 8-channel head coil. T2* (multi-echo GRE), T2 (multi-echo SE), and T1 (dual-angle 3D-FLASH) maps were performed for the posterior (thalamic) region, whereas only T2* maps were realized for all three regions (pre-commissural, retro-commissural, and posterior) of the basal ganglia. Our results show the inhomogeneity of relaxation times at the different anatomic levels and may help in optimizing image contrast of deep brain nuclei of the basal ganglia.