Traditional Posters: Miscellaneous

Muhammed Yildirim^1,2, Shelton D. Caruthers³, Aart J. Nederveen⁴, Jaap Stoker⁴, Rolf Lamerichs<sup>1

1</sup>Philips Research, Eindhoven, Netherlands; ²Biomedical NMR, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands; ³Washington University, St Louis, MO, United States; ⁴Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands

In vivo 3D F-uTSI, can distinguish various 19F compounds based on chemical shift differences allowing for ‘multicolor’ imaging, without additional increase in scan time. 3D F-uTSI is an efficient spectral imaging technique; data with a resolution of 48x48x14 can be recorded with a scan-time of 6:23m. The spectra of several Perfluorocarbon emulsion can be uniquely identified from these data. Main advantage of the spectroscopic, multicolor, imaging approach is that the spectral images of the different PFC agents are recorded at the same time and, furthermore, complex biological process can be imaged using co-injection of differently functionalized PFC emulsions.

1000. Sodium MR Imaging in the Study of Hepatic Encephalopathy

Nadim Jon Shah^1,2, Vincent Gras¹, Anna-Maria Oros-Peusquens¹, Eberhard Daniel Pracht¹, Sandro Romanzetti¹, Gerald Kircheis³, Dieter Häussinger<sup>3

1</sup>Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 4, Medical Imaging Physics, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; ²Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; ³Klinik f. Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie und Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Sodium MRI provides an new tool for the analysis of mechanisms involved in hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a neuropsychiatric complication of liver failure. Hyperintense regions observed in the basal ganglia in proton images of HE patients are expected to show changes in sodium images due to the involvement of hyponatraemia in HE. Using sodium MRI, expected subtle changes are investigated using the structural information - delineation of structures of interest - provided by anatomical MR images. Based on the analysis of a large group of patients versus controls, this research potentially provides novel, valuable information concerning metabolic changes in HE.

1001. Efficient B0-Inhomogeneity Insensitive TQF ²³Na Imaging.

Lazar Fleysher¹, Niels Oesingmann², Matilde Inglese<sup>3

1</sup>Department of Radiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, United States; ²Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., United States; ³Departments of Radiology and Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, United States

We present a new 12-step triple-quantum filtering phase-cycling scheme based on three RF pulses which allows compensation of B₀ variations both with and without ancillary B₀-map information. The method offers 40% higher SNR efficiency compared to the previously developed phase-cycling schemes.

1002. Sodium MRI Multi-Echo Sequence for Simultaneous Ultra-Short Echo Imaging and T2L* Mapping at 7T with a 12 Channel Phased-Array Coil

David Thomas Pilkinton¹, Mark A. Elliott¹, Jeremy Magland², Ravinder Reddy<sup>1

1</sup>Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; ²Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

To maximize signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and minimize relaxation weighting, ultra-short echo (UTE) readouts have been generally been favored for sodium MRI. UTE methods have also been used to measure total sodium concentration (TSC) in tissues, although this typically requires accurate mapping of the B1 field which is typically noisy and error prone. A more reliable quantitative parameter for sodium MRI is the measurement of the long component of the transverse relaxation time, T2L*. In this study, we have implemented a robust sodium imaging sequence for simultaneous UTE imaging and T2L* measurements.

1003. Ex Vivo Assessment of Cervical Remodeling Via ²³Na MRS