Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate comprehensively; accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility of T1 and T2 relaxation times measured by magnetic resonance fingerprinting using B1+-corrected fast imaging with steady-state precession (FISP–MRF).
Methods: The International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine/National Institute of Standards and Technology (ISMRM/NIST) phantom was scanned for 100 days, and six healthy volunteers for 5 days using a FISP–MRF prototype sequence. Accuracy was evaluated on the phantom by comparing relaxation times measured by FISP–MRF with the reference values provided by the phantom manufacturer. Daily repeatability was characterized as the coefficient of variation (CV) of the measurements over 100 days for the phantom and over 5 days for volunteers. In addition, the cross-scanner reproducibility was evaluated in volunteers.
Results: In the phantom study, T1 and T2 values from FISP–MRF showed a strong linear correlation with the reference values of the phantom (R2 = 0.9963 for T1; R2 = 0.9966 for T2). CVs were <1.0% for T1 values larger than 300 ms, and <3.0% for T2 values across a wide range. In the volunteer study, CVs for both T1 and T2 values were <5.0%, except for one subject. In addition, all T2 values estimated by FISP–MRF in vivo were lower than those measured with conventional mapping sequences reported in previous studies. The cross-scanner variation of T1 and T2 showed good agreement between two different scanners in the volunteers.
Conclusion: B1+-corrected FISP-MRF showed an acceptable accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility in the phantom and volunteer studies.
