3D 7Li SSFP and balanced SSFP approaches have been compared by acquiring both datasets from seven euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) patients at 7T. Quantification was performed using the phantom replacement approach accounting for global T1 and T2 relaxation effects. With both methods, heterogeneous brain Li distributions were observed with marked differences in the eyes notably. However, strong correlations between averaged apparent lithium concentrations could be established across all BD patients. While the bSSFP approach is a viable and practical option for 7Li MRI, a more realistic quantification pipeline should be considered in the future.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.