Abstract #4684

T1 Mapping: Methods & Challenges

Nikola Stikov¹, Christine L. Tardif¹, Joelle K. Barral², Ives Levesque², G. Bruce Pike¹

¹Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; ²Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

In this educational abstract, we provide an overview of the main T₁ mapping methods and we outline the challenges in performing quantitative T₁ measurement. We describe the gold standard (Inversion Recovery), as well as two widely used alternative methods (Look-Locker and Variable Flip Angle) that speed up the scanning and fitting procedures at the expense of accuracy and precision. The e-poster will include sample T₁ maps of phantoms and in-vivo human brains acquired with each of the above methods, and it will provide a list of useful T₁ mapping references.