Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Precision of T1-relaxation time measurements in the hepatic portal vein: influence of measurement technique and sequence parameters

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the effects of a range of parameter settings on T1 measurement stability in the portal vein using the T1-mapping sequences Look-Locker (LL) and Modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI).

Materials and methods

Ten different versions of LL and MOLLI sequences were tested and compared to a reference sequence provided by the MR manufacturer. Ten healthy volunteers were imaged multiple times on two separate scan days at 3T. The mean T1 values and coefficient of variation (CoV) were calculated for each of the ten sequences and compared to the reference sequence.

Results

Six of the tested sequences had T1 values close to the reference sequence; among those, three sequences achieved lower CoV than the reference sequence. Lowest CoV was achieved using a non-triggered LL sequence with 5 beat readout and a 45o flip angle (mean T1 1733 ms ± 89 ms, CoV 1.3% ± 0.58%).

Conclusion

T1-measurements in the hepatic portal vein can be performed with high precision using either MOLLI or LL sequences provided that LL sampling duration is sufficiently long and flip angle sufficiently high. The advantage of constant timing outweighed the advantage of ECG-triggering.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ganong WF (1999) Review of medical physiology, 19th edn. Appleton & Lange, Stamford

    Google Scholar 

  2. Shen Y, Goerner FL, Snyder C, Morelli JN, Hao D, Hu D, Li X, Runge VM (2015) T1 relaxivities of gadolinium-based magnetic resonance contrast agents in human whole blood at 1.5, 3, and 7 T. Invest Radiol 50(5):330–338

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu P, Chalak LF, Krishnamurthy LC, Mir I, Peng SL, Huang H, Lu H (2016) T1 and T2 values of human neonatal blood at 3 Tesla: dependence on hematocrit, oxygenation, and temperature. Magn Reson Med 75(4):1730–1735

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhang X, Petersen ET, Ghariq E, De Vis JB, Webb AG, Teeuwisse WM, Hendrikse J, van Osch MJ (2013) In vivo blood T(1) measurements at 1.5 T, 3 T, and 7 T. Magn Reson Med 70(4):1082–1086

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Piechnik SK, Ferreira VM, Lewandowski AJ, Ntusi NA, Banerjee R, Holloway C, Hofman MB, Sado DM, Maestrini V, White SK, Lazdam M, Karamitsos T, Moon JC, Neubauer S, Leeson P, Robson MD (2013) Normal variation of magnetic resonance T1 relaxation times in the human population at 1.5 T using ShMOLLI. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 15(13):11

    Google Scholar 

  6. Varela M, Hajnal JV, Petersen ET, Golay X, Merchant N, Larkman DJ (2011) A method for rapid in vivo measurement of blood T1. NMR Biomed 24(1):80–88

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Treibel TA, Nasis A, Fontana M, Maestrini V, Castelletti S, Bhuva AN, Rosmini S, Abdel-Gadir A, Bulluck H, Kellman P, Piechnik SK, Robson MD, Moon J (2015) An instantaneous ECV with no blood sampling: using native blood T1 for hematocrit is as good as standard ECV. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 17(1):Q129

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Look DC, Locker DR (1970) Time saving in measurement of NMR end EPR relaxation times. Rev Sci Instrum 41:250–251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Messroghli DR, Radjenovic A, Kozerke S, Higgins DM, Sivananthan MU, Ridgway JP (2004) Modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) for high-resolution T 1 mapping of the heart. Magn Reson Med 52(1):141–146

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Qin Q, Strouse JJ, van Zijl PC (2011) Fast measurement of blood T 1 in the human jugular vein at 3 Tesla. Magn Reson Med 65(5):1297–1304

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Li W, Liu P, Lu H, Strouse JJ, van Zijl PC, Qin Q (2016) Fast measurement of blood T 1 in the human carotid artery at 3T: accuracy, precision, and reproducibility. Magn Reson Med 77(6):7

    Google Scholar 

  12. Vassiliou V, Heng EL, Nyktari E, Greiser A, Firmin D, Pennell DJ, Gatehouse P, Prasad SK (2015) Effect of temperature and heart rate variability on Phantom T1 maps. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 17(1):W24

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Scheffler K, Lehnhardt S (2003) Principles and applications of balanced SSFP techniques. Eur Radiol 13(11):2409–2418

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Deichmann RH, Haase A (1992) Quantification of T1 Values by SNAPSHOT-FLASH NMR Imaging. J Magn Reson 96(3):608–612

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Taylor AJ, Salerno M, Dharmakumar R, Jerosch-Herold M (2016) T1 mapping: basic techniques and clinical applications. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 9(1):67–81

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kellman P, Hansen MS (2014) T1-mapping in the heart: accuracy and precision. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 16(1):2

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Kalavagunta C, Michaeli S, Metzger GJ (2014) In-vitro Gd-DTPA relaxometry studies in oxygenated venous human blood and aqueous solution at 3 and 7T. Contrast Media Mol Imaging 9(2):169–176

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Shimada K, Nagasaka T, Shidahara M, Machida Y, Tamura H (2012) In vivo measurement of longitudinal relaxation time of human blood by inversion-recovery fast gradient-echo MR imaging at 3T. Magn Reson Med Sci 11(4):265–271

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Wu W-C, Jain V, Li C, Giannetta M, Hurt H, Wehrli FW, Wang DJJ (2010) In vivo venous blood T(1) measurement using inversion recovery true-FISP in children and adults. Magn Reson Med 64(4):1140–1147

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhang X, Petersen ET, Ghariq E, Vis JB, Webb AG, Teeuwisse WM, Hendrikse J, Osch MJP (2013) In vivo blood T1 measurements at 1.5 T, 3 T, and 7 T. Magn Reson Med 70(4):1082–1086

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. McRobbie DW (2007) MRI from picture to proton, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  22. Gallix BP, Taourel P, Dauzat M, Bruel JM, Lafortune M (1997) Flow pulsatility in the portal venous system: a study of Doppler sonography in healthy adults. Am J Roentgenol 169(1):141–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Grant support: this project is funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Svein Are Sirirud Vatnehol & Per Kristian Hol

  2. The Intervention Center, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

    Svein Are Sirirud Vatnehol & Per Kristian Hol

  3. Oxy Solutions AS, Oslo, Norway

    Svein Are Sirirud Vatnehol, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam & Camilla Haglerød

  4. Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Atle Bjørnerud

  5. Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam

  6. Department of Diagnostic Physics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

    Atle Bjørnerud & Tryggve Holck Storås

Authors
  1. Svein Are Sirirud Vatnehol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Per Kristian Hol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Atle Bjørnerud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Camilla Haglerød
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Tryggve Holck Storås
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

SASV design and planning of the study, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting of manuscript, and critical revision. PKH design and planning of the study, drafting of manuscript, and critical revision. AB design and planning of the study, drafting of manuscript, and critical revision. MA-M design and planning of the study, drafting of manuscript, and critical revision. CH design and planning of the study, drafting of manuscript, and critical revision. THS design and planning of the study, drafting of manuscript, and critical revision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Svein Are Sirirud Vatnehol.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

10334_2018_731_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Supplementary Figure 1 Comparison of the apparent T1 and CoV depending on the method of analyzation. Y-axis are measurements made by the method described in the methods section. X-axis are measurements made in parametric maps. As evident from the figure, the measurements are well comparable between the two methods of analyzation.

Supplementary Table 1 A selection of the geometric parameters of the sequences

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vatnehol, S.A.S., Hol, P.K., Bjørnerud, A. et al. Precision of T1-relaxation time measurements in the hepatic portal vein: influence of measurement technique and sequence parameters. Magn Reson Mater Phy 32, 359–368 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-018-00731-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-018-00731-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation