REPEATABILITY OF A NOVEL 3D PULSE SEQUENCE FOR MAPPING T1P IN IVD

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 退行性椎间盘疾病（DDD）是北卡罗来纳州最常见的背部相关残疾的原因。 美国成年人DDD转化为近1000亿美元的健康相关支出， 只有美国。传统的T1和T2成像技术对于观察晚期 椎间盘（IVD）的结构形态变化，但对早期 生化变化这些晚期结构变化通常在临床上被识别为晚期DDD。 早期退行性变化发生在IVD髓核（NP）内，如大的聚集性 蛋白聚糖分解。T1 <$弛豫时间增强了对相互作用的敏感性 在大量水分子和细胞外基质大分子之间，例如蛋白聚糖 在NP。在这项研究中，我们利用T1的能力来检测早期的生化变化， NP使用新型3D脉冲序列对整个椎间盘体积进行成像。最终，体积3D T1分析可以为临床医生提供一种增强的方法来检测早期DDD， 传统的2D T1？成像技术。我们测量了映射T1的再现性。 一种新的3D MRI脉冲序列的弛豫。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Degenerative disc disease (DDD) is the most common cause of back-related disability among North American adults. DDD translates into nearly 100 billion dollars in health-related expenditures in the United States alone. Conventional T1 and T2 imaging techniques are useful for observing late structural morphological changes to the inter-vertebral discs (IVDs) but are insensitive to early biochemical changes. These late structural changes are often clinically identified as late-stage DDD. Earlier degenerative change occurs within the IVD nucleus pulposus (NP), as large aggregating proteoglycans break down. The T1¿ relaxation time has enhanced sensitivity to the interaction between bulk water molecules and extracellular matrix macromolecules, such as the proteoglycans in the NP. In this study, we used the ability of T1¿ to detect early biochemical changes within the NP with a novel 3D pulse sequence to image the entire disc volume. Ultimately, volumetric 3D T1¿ analysis may provide clinicians with an enhanced method to detect early DDD over conventional 2D T1¿ imaging techniques. We measured the reproducibility of mapping T1¿ relaxation with a novel 3D MRI pulse sequence.