Rapid T2 mapping of mouse heart using the carr-purcell-meiboom-gill sequence and compressed sensing reconstruction

PurposeTo develop and prove preliminary validation of a fast in vivo T-2 mapping technique for mouse heart. Materials and MethodsMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments were performed on a 7T animal scanner. The standard Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence was modified to minimize the effect of stimulated echoes for accurate T-2 quantification. The acquisition was further accelerated with the compressed sensing approach. The accuracy of the proposed method was first validated with both phantom experiments and numerical simulations. In vivo T-2 measurement was performed on seven mice in a manganese-enhanced MRI study. ResultsIn phantom studies, T-2 values obtained with the modified CPMG sequence are in good agreement with the standard spin-echo method (P > 0.05). Numerical simulations further demonstrated that with the application of the compressed sensing approach, fast T-2 quantification with a spatial resolution of 2.3 mm can be achieved at a high temporal resolution of 1 minute per slice. With the proposed technique, an average T-2 value of 25 msec was observed for mouse heart at 7T and this number decreased significantly after manganese infusion (P < 0.001). ConclusionA rapid T-2 mapping technique was developed and assessed, which allows accurate T-2 quantification of mouse heart at a temporal resolution of 1 minute per slice. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:375-382.