The inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) technique has recently been proposed as a new method to probe the cervical spinal cord (CSC) myelin-content. Studies reported so far were limited to single-slice acquisition, hence precluding investigation of the whole CSC within a short acquisition time. To overcome this limitation, a 2D multi-slice single-shot Spin-Echo-Echo-Planar Imaging (SE-EPI) read-out approach was implemented at 3T along with strategies to correct for inherent susceptibility-induced image-distortions and post-saturation relaxation effect for each slice. Validated on phantom and applied to healthy subjects and a patient with multiple sclerosis, this preliminary study shows the promising value of SE-EPI ihMT in the clinical context.
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