In Vivo Characterization of Brain Ultrashort-T Components

Purpose: Recent nuclear magnetic resonance and MRI studies have measured a fast-relaxing signal component with T2∗<1 ms in white matter and myelin extracts. In ex vivo studies, evidence suggests that a large fraction of this component directly arises from bound protons in the myelin phospholipid membranes. Based on these results, this ultrashort-T component in nervous tissue is a new potential imaging biomarker of myelination, which plays a critical role in neuronal signal conduction across the brain and loss or degradation of myelin is a key feature of many neurological disorders. The goal of this work was to characterize the relaxation times and frequency shifts of ultrashort-T components in the human brain.

Methods: This required development of an ultrashort echo time relaxometry acquisition strategy and fitting procedure for robust measurements in the presence of ultrashort T2∗ relaxation times and large frequency shifts.

Results: We measured an ultrashort-T component in healthy volunteers with a median T2∗ between 0.5-0.7 ms at 3T and 0.2-0.3 ms at 7T as well as an approximately -3 ppm frequency shift from water.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first time a chemical shift of the ultrashort-T brain component has been measured in vivo. This chemical shift, at around 1.7 ppm, is similar to the primary resonance of most lipids, indicating that much of the ultrashort-T component observed in vivo arises from bound protons in the myelin phospholipid membranes. Magn Reson Med 80:726-735, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.