Abstract #2411

Dynamic MRI of the Temporomandibular Joint at 3 Tesla Using a Gradient Echo Sequence

Yoon-Chul Kim¹, John L. Go², Sara Banerjee², Meng Law², Houchun Harry Hu¹, Krishna S. Nayak¹^,2

¹Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ²Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Dynamic MRI may be useful for assessing temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction. This application requires sub-millimeter resolution and adequate contrast between the articular disc and surrounding tissue. A gradient echo sequence was optimized by first measuring the T₂* values and then calculating the parameters of flip angle, TE, and TR that maximize the CNR efficiency. The dynamics of the TMJ disc was visualized with a 3.2 second temporal resolution, 0.5 0.5 mm² in-plane spatial resolution using a 6-channel Carotid coil at 3 Tesla.