Simultaneous Detection of Blood Flow, MT Asymmetry, and MT Ratio in Human Skeletal Muscle

Sung-Hong Park¹, Kyongtae Ty Bae¹

In this article we evaluated the feasibility of alternate ascending/descending directional navigation (ALADDIN), a new imaging technique that provides interslice perfusion-weighted and MT asymmetry images, on human skeletal muscle. Subtraction artifacts in ALADDIN MT asymmetry images were suppressed by averaging signals over the readout gradient polarities. ALADDIN PW and MT asymmetry signals measured in muscle were about 10% and 30%, respectively, of those in brain, while MT ratio of muscle was similar to that of brain. Further studies are necessary to investigate clinical usefulness of simultaneous acquisition of blood flow, MT asymmetry, and MT ratio with ALADDIN in skeletal muscle.