Cerebral MR Elastography for Measuring Poroelastic Properties of the Brain

Sebastian Hirsch¹, Dieter Klatt¹, Sebastian Papazoglou¹, Kaspar Josche Streitberger¹, Juergen Braun², Ingolf Sack¹

Cerebral MR poroelastography based on multi-slice echo planar imaging is introduced. The method allows for acquisition of full time-resolved 3D-wave fields with 30 slices in 3 min. Gated data acquisition by pulse wave trigger is demonstrated. Two complex mechanical moduli corresponding to Lam's coefficients are recovered using a direct 3D-harmonic field inversion. While one coefficient corresponds to the shear modulus measured in previous studies of 2D cerebral MRE, the other is related to dilatational deformation occurring in biphasic soft tissue and is thus determined by microscopic fluid filtration.