Cerebral Cortex & Thalamic Sub-Region Contrast at 7T: Magnitude, Phase or Susceptibility?

Wei Li¹, Bing Wu¹, Nan-Kuei Chen¹, Chunlei Liu^1,2

High resolution magnitude, phase and susceptibility map of human brain were reconstructed from the gradient echo images acquired at 7T. Both phase and susceptibility maps showed excellent gray and white matter contrast at cerebral cortex, while the detailed anatomical structures are different between phase and susceptibility. The structures revealed by susceptibility were closer to that by the magnitude. Susceptibility also showed much higher contrast at thalamic sub-regions than phase and magnitude. These results may suggest that susceptibility is more accurate than phase for visualization of brain structures, and more sensitive than magnitude in showing contrast at thalamic sub-regions.