TY - JOUR
T1 - Simultaneous T1, T2, and T2* Mapping of Carotid Plaque
T2 - The SIMPLE* Technique
AU - Wang, Yajie
AU - Liu, Xiaoming
AU - Wang, Jing
AU - Wang, Yishi
AU - Qi, Haikun
AU - Kong, Xiangchuang
AU - Liu, Dingxi
AU - Liu, Jia
AU - Zheng, Hanpei
AU - Xiong, Fu
AU - Zhang, Lan
AU - Fu, Xiaona
AU - Zhang, Xinli
AU - Guo, Rui
AU - Qiao, Huiyu
AU - Chen, Zhensen
AU - Si, Dongyue
AU - Chen, Huijun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© RSNA, 2023.
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - Background: Quantitative T1, T2, and T2* measurements of carotid atherosclerotic plaque are important in evaluating plaque vulnerability and monitoring its progression. Purpose: To develop a sequence to simultaneously quantify T1, T2, and T2* of carotid plaque. Materials and Methods: The simultaneous T1, T2, and T2* mapping of carotid plaque (SIMPLE*) sequence is composed of three modules with different T2 preparation pulses, inversion-recovery pulses, and acquisition schemas. Single-echo data were used for T1 and T2 quantification, while the multiecho (ME) data were used for T2* quantification. The quantitative accuracy of SIMPLE* was tested in a phantom study by comparing its measurements with those of reference standard sequences. In vivo feasibility of the technique was prospectively evaluated between November 2020 and February 2022 in healthy volunteers and participants with carotid atherosclerotic plaque. The Pearson or Spearman correlation test, Student t test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used. Results: T1, T2, and T2* estimated with SIMPLE* strongly correlated with inversion-recovery spin-echo (SE) (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.99), ME-SE (r = 0.99), and ME gradient-echo (r = 0.99) sequences in the phantom study. In five healthy volunteers (mean age, 25 years ± 3 [SD]; three women), measurements were similar between SIMPLE* and modified Look-Locker inversion recovery, or MOLLI (1151 msec ± 71 vs 1098 msec ± 64; P = .14), ME turbo SE (31 msec ± 1 vs 31 msec ± 1; P = .32), and ME turbo field echo (24 msec ± 2 vs 25 msec ± 2; P = .19). In 18 participants with carotid plaque (mean age, 65 years ± 9; 16 men), quantitative T1, T2, and T2* of plaque components were consistent with their signal characteristics on multicontrast images. Conclusion: A quantitative technique for simultaneous T1, T2, and T2* mapping of carotid plaque with 100-mm3 coverage and 0.8-mm3 resolution was developed using the proposed SIMPLE* sequence and demonstrated high accuracy and in vivo feasibility.
AB - Background: Quantitative T1, T2, and T2* measurements of carotid atherosclerotic plaque are important in evaluating plaque vulnerability and monitoring its progression. Purpose: To develop a sequence to simultaneously quantify T1, T2, and T2* of carotid plaque. Materials and Methods: The simultaneous T1, T2, and T2* mapping of carotid plaque (SIMPLE*) sequence is composed of three modules with different T2 preparation pulses, inversion-recovery pulses, and acquisition schemas. Single-echo data were used for T1 and T2 quantification, while the multiecho (ME) data were used for T2* quantification. The quantitative accuracy of SIMPLE* was tested in a phantom study by comparing its measurements with those of reference standard sequences. In vivo feasibility of the technique was prospectively evaluated between November 2020 and February 2022 in healthy volunteers and participants with carotid atherosclerotic plaque. The Pearson or Spearman correlation test, Student t test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used. Results: T1, T2, and T2* estimated with SIMPLE* strongly correlated with inversion-recovery spin-echo (SE) (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.99), ME-SE (r = 0.99), and ME gradient-echo (r = 0.99) sequences in the phantom study. In five healthy volunteers (mean age, 25 years ± 3 [SD]; three women), measurements were similar between SIMPLE* and modified Look-Locker inversion recovery, or MOLLI (1151 msec ± 71 vs 1098 msec ± 64; P = .14), ME turbo SE (31 msec ± 1 vs 31 msec ± 1; P = .32), and ME turbo field echo (24 msec ± 2 vs 25 msec ± 2; P = .19). In 18 participants with carotid plaque (mean age, 65 years ± 9; 16 men), quantitative T1, T2, and T2* of plaque components were consistent with their signal characteristics on multicontrast images. Conclusion: A quantitative technique for simultaneous T1, T2, and T2* mapping of carotid plaque with 100-mm3 coverage and 0.8-mm3 resolution was developed using the proposed SIMPLE* sequence and demonstrated high accuracy and in vivo feasibility.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85153803955&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1148/RADIOL.222061
DO - 10.1148/RADIOL.222061
M3 - Article
C2 - 36853181
AN - SCOPUS:85153803955
SN - 0033-8419
VL - 307
JO - Radiology
JF - Radiology
IS - 3
M1 - e222061
ER -