In vivo lower-limb STIR images were compared with images simulated using a theoretical signal model with experimentally determined muscle-water T2 and fat fraction values. Nominally T2-weighted STIR contrast is seen to depend on changing tissue-water relative proton density as fat content increases in diseased muscle, in addition to expected T2 dependent changes. Imperfect inversion-recovery fat nulling may also cause unexpected hyper-intensity in regions of high fat content. These observations may have implications for the clinical interpretation of STIR signal intensity.
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