Question about Scanning Parameters of T2*

MRI Acquisition
#1

Dear @jcohenadad

we are trying to find an optimal setup for the anatomical acquisitions of spinal MR. Referring to the course material for the SCT workshop in London and the SCT paper (2017), we are a little bit confused about the scanning parameters for the provided T2*-weighted images. We already tried several protocols provided by Siemens and also checked those you uploaded on OSF. Still, we couldn’t find a setting that provides such a nice representation of the spinal grey matter.

We would really appreciate any advice, which sequence and protocol parameters were applied for this scan or how to obtain a similar representation of the spinal cord.

BTW, we have a 3T Siemens Prisma scanner.

Best regards,
Corina

#2

Hi @cmelzer,

Thank you for reaching out. Have you followed the SOP, which notably describes how to position the slice, the saturation band and the shim box? Those three parameters make quite a large impact on the resulting image quality. Finally, this sequence is quite sensitive to subject motion (including swallowing).

What scanner and coil are you using?

if you can share an example data, maybe i can assess the source of the problem (type of artifact, sensitivity profile, slice positioning etc.).

Cheers,
Julien

#3

Hello Julien,

I have a similar inquiry as @cmelzer. I am trying to obtain the GM and WM in the spinal cord region that innervates to the legs (lower thoracic). Based on your recommendations I have tried increased averaging, anterior coil, and acquisition parameters proposed by [Yiannakas et al. PLOS One 2014] . I am using a Siemens Prisma scanner as well and known of the methods used have been consistent. Do you have any parameters that would yield the most consistent results?

Sarah

#4

sorry I don’t have more recommendations than the ones i’ve already listed

#5

Is there a good FOV to try?