Papers › Optimization of acquisition parameters for cortical inhomogeneous magnetization...

Optimization of acquisition parameters for cortical inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) imaging using a rapid gradient echo readout

14 Feb 2023arXiv:2302.07297links table onlyarchive 2025-07-28

Christopher D. Rowley, Jennifer S. W. Campbell, Ilana R. Leppert, Mark C. Nelson, G. Bruce Pike, Christine L. Tardif

The archive published only this paper's code-link row. Authors, date and abstract are from arXiv's metadata (CC0), read from the Kaggle arXiv metadata snapshot of 2026-09-12 where its title matched the archive's; the title is the archive's.

Purpose: Imaging biomarkers with increased myelin specificity are needed to better understand the complex progression of neurological disorders. Inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) imaging is an emergent technique that has a high degree of specificity for myelin content but suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This study used simulations to determine optimal sequence parameters for ihMT imaging for use in high-resolution cortical mapping. Methods: MT-weighted cortical image intensity and ihMT SNR were simulated using modified Bloch equations for a range of sequence parameters. The acquisition time was limited to 4.5 min/volume. A custom MT-weighted RAGE sequence with center-out k-space encoding was used to enhance SNR at 3 Tesla. Pulsed MT imaging was studied over a range of saturation parameters and the impact of the turbo-factor on effective ihMT was investigated. 1 mm isotropic ihMTsat maps were generated in 25 healthy adults using an optimized protocol. Results: Greater SNR was observed for larger number of bursts consisting of 6-8 saturation pulses each, combined with a high readout turbo-factor. However, that protocol suffered from a point spread function that was more than twice the nominal resolution. For high-resolution cortical imaging, we selected a protocol with a higher effective resolution at the cost of a lower SNR. We present the first group-average ihMTsat whole-brain map at 1 mm isotropic resolution. Conclusion: This study presents the impact of saturation and excitation parameters on ihMTsat SNR and resolution. We demonstrate the feasibility of high-resolution cortical myelin imaging using ihMTsat in less than 20 minutes.

PaperPDFCode

Code

tardiflab/optimizeihmtimaging officialmentioned in paper report

Repository list and official/mentioned flags are the archive's, frozen 2025-07-28. Reachability, where shown, is from one Syntology probe window (2026-09-16 to 2026-09-18); repositories not probed show nothing. GitHub stars are not tracked.

Code Syntology ran Syntology

Not run by Syntology. Nothing on this page verifies that the listed code works.

Results from the paper archive 2025-07-28

No leaderboard rows for this paper in the archive.

Report a problem or propose a change · a person checks every report against the paper or source before anything changes; decisions are listed on /corrections