Matthew Cronin1,
Samuel J. Wharton1, Richard W. Bowtell2, Penelope A.
Gowland2
1Sir
Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, The University of Nottingham,
Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom; 2Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic
Resonance Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom
Peripheral rings surrounding white matter (WM) lesions in multiple sclerosis are often analysed using phase images from T2*-weighted, gradient echo scans. The usefulness of this approach is limited by the non-local, dipolar nature of phase contrast. Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) can be used to overcome this problem. Here, by comparison of images and analysis of 1D profiles of signal variation with respect to the distance from the lesion edge, we show that QSM offers a more accurate representation of WM lesions, which reflects the underlying tissue composition more closely than phase or T2*-weighted magnitude data.