As hypoxic tumours in the head-and-neck are more resistant to radiation therapy, there is a pressing clinical need to measure tumour oxygenation non-invasively. Since deoxyhemoglobin in the blood, which indicates hypoxia, is paramagnetic, QSM is a candidate technique. Here, we tested QSM’s repeatability in various head-and-neck regions in ten healthy volunteers to investigate the feasibility of detecting the susceptibility difference expected to result from hypoxia. We found low minimum detectable effect sizes in the lymph nodes (0.12 ppm), submandibular glands (0.08 ppm), and parotid glands (0.04 ppm). This high QSM repeatability paves the way for clinical studies.
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