T1 Uncertainty Estimation of Bone Marrow in Lumbar Vertebrae using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

The precise determination and analysis of T1 is crucial for diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring therapeutic response in a variety of diseases such as Acute Myeloid Leukaemia either by comparing the native T1 values in longitudinal studies or by quantifying the physiological parameters in MRI. Therefore, in this study we optimize the accuracy of T1 using the derived uncertainty evaluation expression with the fixed two-flip angles and assess the error of T1 measurement in bone marrow of five Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) patients. MR image data was collected and MATLAB software was used in the image processing and data analysis. For quantitative MRI data analysis, Regions of Interest (ROI) on multiple image slices were drawn encompassing vertebral bodies of L3, L4 and L5. Both the T1 and the uncertainty of T1 were evaluated using the T1 maps obtained. Then the accurate bone marrow mean value of T1 out of five subjects was estimated as 760.3 (ms) at 3T. However, the reported T1 value of healthy subjects is significantly higher (946.0 ms) than the present finding. This suggests that the T1 for bone marrow can be considered as a potential prognostic biomarker for AML patients.