Revital Nossin-Manor1, Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng1,2, Hilary Whyte3, Joo Paulo Soares-Fernandes1,4, Bejoy Thomas1, Aideen M. Moore3, Margot Jane Taylor1, John G. Sled5
1Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; 2Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; 3Neonatology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; 4Neuroradiology, Hospital de S. Marcos, Braga, Portugal; 5Physiology Experimental Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
Rapid and accurate T1 mapping is valuable for quantitative noninvasive monitoring of development and pathology in the neonatal brain. Here we show for the first time the use of variable flip angle (VFA) spoiled gradient recalled (SPGR) approach with B1+ field nonuniformity correction to measure T1 relaxation times of very preterm brain at 1.5T. High resolution T1 maps were obtained for nine preterm neonates (median, 29 5/7 weeks) showing a range of pathologies scanned in 3 min and 36 s. ROI based analysis showed that T1 values depended on the clinical status of the infants rather than on gestational age.