Measurement of T(1) and T(2) relaxation times of the pancreas at 7 T using a multi-transmit system

OBJECTIVE: To determine T(1) and T(2) relaxation times of healthy pancreas parenchyma at 7 T using a multi-transmit system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six healthy subjects were scanned with a 7 T MR system using eight parallel transceiver antennas, each with two additional receive loops. A Look-Locker sequence was used to obtain images for T(1) determination, while T(2) was obtained from spin-echo images and magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements with different echo times. T(1) and T(2) times were calculated using a mono-exponential fit of the average magnitude signal from a region of interest in the pancreas and were tested for correlation with age. RESULTS: The age range of the included subjects was 21–72 years. Average T(1) and T(2) relaxation times in healthy pancreas were 896 ± 149 ms, and 26.7 ± 5.3 ms, respectively. No correlation with age was found. CONCLUSION: T(1) and T(2) relaxation times of the healthy pancreas were reported for 7 T, which can be used for image acquisition optimization. No significant correlations were found between age and T(1) or T(2) relaxation times of the pancreas. Considering their low standard deviation and no observable age dependence, these values may be used as a baseline to study potentially pancreatic tissue affected by disease.