Patent ID: 11835609

Abstract:
Imaging methods for assessing the macromolecular content, such as myelin, are of great interest for understanding brain tissue microstructure, and have shown potentials in diagnosing and prognosing demyelinating diseases. for example. Magnetization transfer (MT) is a MRI contrast mechanism that enables detection of macromolecules. Previously, the MT effect has been analyzed by a semi-quantitative method termed magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) or by a quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) method. However, because MTR does not have enough sensitivity and specificity to myelin, and qMT takes a very long scan time, their translation into clinical scenarios has been limited. This disclosure describes a MT data analysis metric using double saturation pulse offsets and powers (dopMTR). Simulations and experiments using the systems and methods described in this disclosure show that the dopMTR yields much better sensitivity and specificity to MT effect than the conventional MTR, and requires much less scan time than the qMT.