Determination of the R2* relaxation rate constant for estimating hepatic iron concentration: A customized approach that considers liver fat infiltration

Quantitative MRI has been used for evaluating tissue iron concentration for more than twenty years and has become the method of choice due to its robustness, its non-invasiveness, and the ease of data acquisition that is associated with it (from a single breath-hold to a few minutes, depending on the protocol). There are basically two distinct techniques to quantify tissue iron concentration with MRI [1]. The first one employs a multi-echo spin-echo sequence for determining the spin-spin relaxation rate, R2 (1/T2), and the second one involves a gradient-echo sequence for deducing the R2* (1/T2*) relaxation rate.

Source: Physica Medica: European Journal of Medical Physics - July 13, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: D.E. Gkotsis, E.D. Gotsis, G. Lymperopoulou, P. Karaiskos, I. Seimenis Tags: Original paper Source Type: research