From the Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, China 100084 (Yajie Wang, H. Qiao, D.S., H.C.); Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China (X.L., J.W., X.K., D.L., J.L., H.Z., F.X., L.Z., X.F., X.Z.); Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Wuhan, China (X.L., J.W., X.K., D.L., J.L., H.Z., F.X., L.Z., X.F., X.Z.); Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China (Yishi Wang); School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China (H. Qi); School of Medical Technology, Beijing Institution of Technology, Beijing, China (R.G.); and Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Z.C.).
Radiology. 2023 May;307(3):e222061. doi: 10.1148/radiol.222061. Epub 2023 Feb 28.
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 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 [] = 0.99), ME-SE ( = 0.99), and ME gradient-echo ( = 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; = .14), ME turbo SE (31 msec ± 1 vs 31 msec ± 1; = .32), and ME turbo field echo (24 msec ± 2 vs 25 msec ± 2; = .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-mm coverage and 0.8-mm resolution was developed using the proposed SIMPLE* sequence and demonstrated high accuracy and in vivo feasibility. © RSNA, 2023
背景 颈动脉粥样硬化斑块的定量 T1、T2 和 T2* 测量在评估斑块易损性和监测其进展方面非常重要。目的 开发一种同时量化颈动脉斑块 T1、T2 和 T2* 的序列。材料与方法 颈动脉斑块的同时 T1、T2 和 T2* 映射（SIMPLE*）序列由具有不同 T2 准备脉冲、反转恢复脉冲和采集方案的三个模块组成。单回波数据用于 T1 和 T2 定量，而多回波（ME）数据用于 T2* 定量。通过比较参考标准序列的测量值，在体模研究中测试了 SIMPLE* 的定量准确性。2020 年 11 月至 2022 年 2 月，前瞻性地在健康志愿者和颈动脉粥样硬化斑块患者中评估了该技术的体内可行性。使用 Pearson 或 Spearman 相关检验、Student t 检验和 Wilcoxon 秩和检验。结果 在体模研究中，SIMPLE* 估计的 T1、T2 和 T2* 与反转恢复自旋回波（SE）（相关系数 [] = 0.99）、ME-SE（ = 0.99）和 ME 梯度回波（ = 0.99）序列强烈相关。在 5 名健康志愿者（平均年龄，25 岁 ± 3[标准差]；3 名女性）中，SIMPLE* 与改良 Look-Locker 反转恢复或 MOLLI（1151 msec ± 71 与 1098 msec ± 64； =.14）、ME 涡轮 SE（31 msec ± 1 与 31 msec ± 1； =.32）和 ME 涡轮场回波（24 msec ± 2 与 25 msec ± 2； =.19）的测量结果相似。在 18 名颈动脉斑块患者（平均年龄，65 岁 ± 9；16 名男性）中，斑块成分的定量 T1、T2 和 T2* 与其多对比度图像上的信号特征一致。结论 使用提出的 SIMPLE* 序列开发了一种具有 100-mm 覆盖范围和 0.8-mm 分辨率的颈动脉斑块同时 T1、T2 和 T2* 映射的定量技术，并证明了其具有高准确性和体内可行性。
