Catherine Anusha Mallik1, David Bellis2,
David J. Lythgoe1, Rebeca Santamaria-Fernandez2, Gareth
J. Barker1
1Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences,
Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; 2Laboratory of
Government Chemists, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom
There
is a growing body of MRI research on the effects of abnormal levels of iron
in the brain. Validation of
quantitative MRI with a phantom of known iron concentrations, is necessary
for comparing different MRI measures. To allow cross-validation with Atomic
spectrometry (AS) three different AS and MRI compatible phantoms were
manufactured using various substrates and concentrations of iron. Phantoms
were imaged at 3T with three different iron-sensitive MRI techniques. Imaging
results show that a thrombin-fibrinogen gel doped with ferritin is a suitable
phantom for both MRI and AS.