Robert L. Greenman1, Robert V. Mulkern2
1Radiology, Harvard University Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 2Radiology, Harvard University Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Many pathologies are characterized by changes in the T1 relaxation rate of specific tissues. Most of the widely accepted methods of measurement of the tissue T1 values are time consuming. The Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence is widely used for fast imaging where spin-echo contrast is required. We present a novel method for measuring T1 relaxation rates, based on the CPMG sequence. The results of T1 measurements of a phantom and human skeletal muscle suggest that this method may provide fast, accurate T1 information.