Previous studies have indicated that R1ρ (= 1/T1ρ) dispersion may be dominated by chemical exchange processes at higher fields, and the dispersion may be used to quantify exchange processes between water and labile protons, mainly amides and hydroxyls. At 3T some biological tissues with high macromolecular protein content may demonstrate a considerable dispersion, but fat and water rich tissues typically have a negligible R1ρ dispersion. In this study, we observed that the degree of R1ρ dispersion in white matter at 7T was more than three times the dispersion at 3T, confirming that chemical exchange is a major contribution to R1ρ and suggesting R1ρ dispersion at higher fields may help to characterize tissue physicochemical properties.
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