Abstract #3714

SNR Efficiency in Multi-Parameter Mapping (PD, T1 & T2*) at 3T: Comparison of MP2RAGE and VFA-FLASH

Jean-David Jutras¹, Keith Wachowicz^1,2, Guillaume Gilbert³, and Nicola De Zanche^1,2

¹Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ²Medical Physics, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ³MR Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare Canada, Markham, ON, Canada

Quantitative parametric mapping is becoming increasingly promising for improving the diagnostic quality and reproducibility of structural brain MR images. The variable flip angle technique with FLASH (VFA-FLASH) is a popular technique for mapping the proton-density, T₁ and T₂^*. Recently, the MP2RAGE pulse sequence was developed to map T₁ with robustness to RF inhomogeneity. If a multi-echo (bipolar) MP2RAGE is employed, proton-density and T₂^* can also be mapped simultaneously. In this study we compare the SNR efficiency and accuracy of VFA-FLASH and MP2RAGE for multi-parameter mapping at 3T. Both methods yield comparable T₁-to-noise ratios, but VFA-FLASH is superior for PD and T₂^* mapping.

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