Kieran O'Brien†^1,2, Fabian Zimmer†², Steffen Bollmann², Josef Pfeuffer³, Keith Heberlein⁴, and Markus Barth^2
1Healthcare Sector, Siemens Ltd, Brisbane, Australia, ²The Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, ³Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany, ⁴Siemens Healthcare, Boston, MA, United States

Pulsed Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL) techniques should benefit from the increased signal to noise ratio available at ultra high field. Previous proof-of-concept ASL studies have been limited to the superior regions of the brain due to poor labelling efficiency of the blood in the neck. We propose and show that through replacing the frequency offset corrected inversion (FOCI) adiabatic pulse with a low-B1 power time resampled (TR-)FOCI pulse we can obtain reliable perfusion signal at 7T across the whole brain without the need for dielectric pads or dedicated labelling coils.

Rebecca Emily Feldman¹, Hadrien Dyvorne¹, Bradley Neil Delman¹, Madeline Cara Fields², Lara Vanessa Marcuse², and Priti Balchandani^1
1Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York, United States

MRI plays a vital role in the localization and characterization of epileptogenic abnormalities. High field MRI has been useful in characterizing hippocampal sclerosis, cortical dysplasias, and vascular malformations associated with epilepsy. We report results for a study designed to assess the value of 7T imaging to reveal subtle abnormalities acting as epileptogenic foci in patients with idiopathic focal epilepsy who have non-lesional diagnostic MRI scans. We report all abnormalities detected at 7T, including those that have had an impact on surgical planning and treatment course as well as findings that could assist with better understanding the etiology of the disease.

Judith Schork¹, Anna Kollefrath¹, Manuela B. Rösler¹, Reiner Umathum¹, and Armin M. Nagel^1
1Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

Chloride (Cl^-) plays an important role in several physiological processes. However, due to the very short transverse relaxation times, quantitative measurements of ³⁵Cl are challenging. Although this isotope exhibits higher NMR sensitivity than ³⁷Cl, the 1.27-fold lower electrical quadrupole moment of³⁷Cl results in longer relaxation times and could offer an imaging advantage over ³⁵Cl. To prove this effect a quadrature birdcage coil for ³⁷Cl MRI was built and used for in vivo and phantom measurements. This work shows the first ³⁷Cl in vivo images of a human calf muscle. For comparison of relaxation times, ³⁵Cl MRI was also performed.

Cory Wyatt¹, Aditi Guha¹, Anand Venkatachari¹, Xiaojuan Li¹, Roland Krug¹, Douglas A.C. Kelley², Thomas M. Link¹, and Sharmila Majumdar^1
1Radiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, ²GE Healthcare Technologies, San Francisco, California, United States

Twenty patients, seven without knee osteoarthritis and thirteen with osteoarthritis, were scanned at 3T and 7T with T1rho and T2 mapping sequences. The mean T1rho and T2 in six cartilage compartments in the knee were compared between the healthy controls and the patients with osteoarthritis. Results showed more significant differences between groups in the 7T relaxation values compared to the 3T values, suggesting the possibility of the use of smaller cohort sizes at 3T to detect changes in cartilage composition.

Christopher T. Rodgers¹, Yuehui Tao¹, Stefan Piechnik¹, Alexander Liu¹, Jane Francis¹, Stefan Neubauer¹, and Matthew D. Robson^1
1University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxon, United Kingdom

We recently reported normal myocardial T1s at 7T, using the ShMOLLI+IE sequence on a scanner with 16x1kW RF channels. We now introduce the “7T SASHA” variant of the saturation recovery single-shot acquisition (SASHA) sequence for use on scanners with only 8x1kW RF. In phantoms, “7T SASHA” T1s were within 6% of IR-SE reference T1s for readout FAs≤25°. In 10 volunteers, native 7T SASHA T1s in the septum were 1939±73ms and 999-1674ms after Dotarem contrast. These values are consistent with our ShMOLLI+IE T1 of 1925 ± 48 ms. 7T SASHA paves the way for clinical applications of T1 mapping at 7T.

Xiufeng Li¹, Edward J. Auerbach¹, Pierre-Francois Van de Moortele¹, Kamil Ugurbil¹, and Gregory J. Metzger^1
1Radiology-CMRR, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Previous study has demonstrated the feasibility of single breath-hold renal perfusion imaging using FAIR ss-FSE at 7T. Without short-term specific absorption rate issue, 3T may provide similar imaging quality for the single breath-hold perfusion imaging as 7T by using a shorter TR and a larger number of label and control images. Such a hypothesis has been disapproved by both theoretical and experimental study results.

Martin Gajdošík¹, Grzegorz Chadzynski^2,3, Vladimír Mlynárik¹, Marek Chmelík¹, Wolfgang Bogner¹, Ladislav Valkovic^1,4, Ivica Just Kukurová¹, Siegfried Trattnig¹, and Martin Krššák^1,5
1MRCE, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, ²Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, ³Department of High-Field Magnetic Resonance, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, ⁴Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, ⁵Department of Internal Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Previous ¹H MRS measurements in the brain have demonstrated advantages of ultra-short T_E at ultra-high fields. Besides higher SNR, T₂ relaxation and J-modulation effects in the spectra can be minimized. This is of particular importance in the liver tissue, where both effects along with iron deposition have to be taken into account. The STEAM with T_E=6ms provided higher SNR and reproducibility for precise estimation of HCL. Furthermore the high spectral resolution at 7T with sufficient CRLB´s of single lipid resonances highlights the potential of this sequence to be used in advanced studies of hepatic lipid profiles in vivo.

A Alia^1,2 and Niels Braakman^1
1Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands, ²Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

In this work we present the first in vivo localized two dimension spectroscopy to unambiguously identify glycerophospholipids (GPC) and phosphocholine (PC) in cortex/hippocampus region of mouse brain at 9.4T. The increase in GPC is an indicator of increased breakdown of phospholipids in Alzheimers disease. Till now the detection of phosphocholine and GPC in disease affected regions in AD brain has not been possible due to lack of sensitive detection methods. In the same brain region we visualized amyloid beta plaques by in vivo ìMRI. Our results show a clear correlation between plaque deposition and membrane breakdown in AD mouse brain.

Katharina Paul¹, Andreas Graessl¹, Jan Rieger¹, Darius Lysiak¹, Till Huelnhagen¹, Lukas Winter¹, Antje Els¹, Beate Endemann¹, Tobias Lindner², Stefan Hadlich³, Paul-Christian Krueger³, Oliver Stachs^2,4, Soenke Langner³, and Thoralf Niendorf^1,5
1Max-Delbrueck Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ²University Medicine Rostock, Pre-clinical Imaging Research Group, Rostock, Germany, ³University of Greifswald, Institute for Diagnotic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald, Germany,⁴University Medicine Rostock, Department of Ophthalmology, Rostock, Germany, ⁵Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a joint cooperation between the Charite Medical Faculty and the Max-Delbrueck Center, Berlin, Germany

This work demonstrates the feasibility of in vivo MR microscopy of the optic nerve at 3.0 T and 7.0 T including T₁-weighted, T₂-weighted anatomical imaging along with ADC mapping. Imaging the optic nerve and other extra-ocular structures benefits from the spatial resolution enhancements at (ultra)high fields. The detail, integrity and image quality demonstrated for T₁ weighted 3D FLASH imaging, T₂ weighted RARE imaging and for ADC mapping underscore the value of dedicated RF coil hardware in conjunction with the signal gain at ultrahigh fields for advancing the capabilities of anatomical imaging and DWI of the eye, orbit and optic nerve.

Grzegorz L. Chadzynski^1,2, Gisela Hagberg^1,2, Jonas Bause², G. Shajan², Sotirios Bisdas³, Rolf Pohmann², and Klaus Scheffler^1,2
1Dept. Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany, ²Dept. High-field Magnetic Resonance, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen, Germany, ³Dept. Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany

Recently it was demonstrated that the advantages of ultra-high field MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI), namely the better signal-to-noise ratio and the improved spectral resolution, can be useful in clinical applications. Studies conducted at lower field strengths (below 3T) have shown that an evaluation with the Orthonormal Discriminant Vector method (ODV) enables differentiation between low (WHO grade II and III) and high grade (WHO grade IV) human brain tumors. The aim of this study was to verify the usefulness of the ODV method in assessing human brain tumor spectra measured with MRSI at a field strength of 9.4T.

Hye Jin Jeong¹, Jong Yeon Lee², Jong Hwan Lee², Yu Jeong Kim², Eung Yeop Kim³, Yong Yeon Kim⁴, Zang-Hee Cho¹, and Young-Bo Kim^1
1Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea, ²Department of Ophthalmology, Gachon University, Gil Hospital, Incheon, Korea,³Department of Radiology, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea, ⁴Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

To investigate lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) volume of glaucoma patients compared with age-matched normal controls using ultra-high field 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On high-resolution 7.0-T MRI, LGN volumes in POAG patients are significantly smaller than those of healthy subjects. Furthermore, in patients, LGN volume was found to be significantly correlated with ganglion cell layer and inner plexus layer (GC–IPL) thickness of the contralateral eye.

Bixia Chen^1,2, Toshinori Matsushige^2,3, Stefan Maderwald¹, Sören Johst¹, Harald H. Quick^1,4, Mark Edward Ladd^1,5, Ulrich Sure², and Karsten Henning Wrede^1,2
1Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, NRW, Germany, ²Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, NRW, Germany, ³Department of Neurosurgery, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, ⁴High Field and Hybrid MR Imaging, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, NRW, Germany,⁵Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, BW, Germany

Intracranial giant aneurysms (IGA) were prospectively analyzed at 7T MRI, focusing on the aneurysm wall. Six patients were examined in a 7T whole-body MR scanner with a 32-channel head coil. TOF, MPRAGE, and SWI sequences were acquired. Two surgically resected aneurysms were suitable for histological examination. 7T TOF and SWI could precisely reveal microstructures and iron deposition in individual layers of the aneurysm wall as seen in histopathology. Measurement of wall thickness on 7T TOF corresponded best with histopathological findings. Ultra-high-field MRI of this rare intracranial vascular pathology can contribute to understanding the complex pathophysiology of aneurysm growth and rupture.

Gilbert Hangel¹, Bernhard Strasser¹, Michal Považan¹, Stephan Gruber¹, Marek Chmelik¹, Georg Widhalm², Engelbert Knosp², Assunta Dal-Bianco³, Fritz Leutmezer³, Siegfried Trattnig¹, and Wolfgang Bogner^1
1MCRE, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Vienna, Austria, ²Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Vienna, Austria, ³Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Vienna, Austria

This work presents the application of single- and multi-slice accelerated high resolution FID-based spectroscopic imaging sequences with ultra-short TE in patients with multiple sclerosis and brain tumors at 7T. Using the parallel imaging method CAIPIRINHA for 2D and 3D acceleration, the measurement time for a single slice 64×64 matrix could be reduced to 6:00 minutes, as well as 22:35 minutes for a 64×64×4 matrix, allowing the inclusion into a standard imaging protocol. The acquired metabolic maps correlated well with lesions found on anatomical images, indicating a possible future use in diagnostics for multiple sclerosis and brain tumors.

Stephen E Jones¹, Se-Hong Oh¹, Erik Beall¹, Michael Phillips¹, Ken Sakaie¹, Irene Wang², and Mark Lowe^1
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, ²Neurologic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, United States

blah blah

Till Huelnhagen¹, Katharina Paul¹, Andreas Pohlmann¹, Andreas Graessl¹, Jan Rieger², Darius Lysiak², Christof Thalhammer¹, Marcel Prothmann³, Jeanette Schulz-Menger^3,4, and Thoralf Niendorf^1,4
1Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max-Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany, ²MRI.TOOLS GmbH, Berlin, Germany,³Dept. of Cardiology and Nephrology, HELIOS Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany, ⁴Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a joint cooperation between the Charite Medical Faculty and the Max-Delbrueck Center, Berlin, Germany

This study reports on early experiences made with cardiac black blood RARE imaging at 7.0 T in healthy volunteers and patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Our preliminary results underscore that cardiac black blood imaging at 7.0 T remains challenging in in patients. The main obstacles causing suboptimal image quality identified here were motion induced artifacts due to non-compliance with the breath-hold regime, mis-triggering due to cardiac arrhythmia and acquisition window timing within the cardiac cycle. It's concluded that further developments are essential to translate the benefits of high resolution black blood imaging at 7.0 T into a clinical setting.