mapping acquired by several commonly used coils of 7.0T small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods:
T
1
mapping of deionized water
0.2 mmol/L and 0.4 mmol/L Magnevist solution was measured with rat/mouse brain surface coil and mouse head/body volume coil
and multiple regions of interest (ROI) were delineat-ed. And the T
1
mapping spatial
uniformity of different coils were compared.
Results:
There are spatial uniformity differences in the measurement of
T
1
values by different coils. In certain cases
the difference in T
1
mapping in the volume coils is more sensitive than the difference in signal strength. In general
the uniformity of small-diameter coils is better than that of large-diameter coils. And the uniformity of X-direction (left to right) is better than the Y-direction (upper to lower).
Conclusion:
We recommend T
1
mapping uni-formity as one of the quality control reference indicators. Small diameter coils should be used when acquiring T
1
mapping. When the experimental animals were in the supine or prone position
the
T
1
values of the contralateral tissues should be selected for comparison with higher confidence.