Optimized 3D MPRAGE: Depiction of Thalamic Substructures at 3T

Benjamin Bender¹, Constantin Mnz¹, Thomas Ngele¹, Uwe Klose¹

Up to now deep brain stimulation of the thalamus for the treatment of neurological diseases is mostly dependent on stereotactic coordinates, as the substructures of the thalamus are not visible in standard MRI. Six healthy subjects were measured with an improved 3D MPRAGE at 3T with an acquisition time of about 20 minutes. The comparison with the histological slices of the Talairach brain showed a high level of concordance in corresponding slices, and larger nuclei groups could be firmly identified.