Magnetization Transfer Ratio Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis: a Comparison of 3D Balanced Steady-State Free Precession and 2D Gradient Echo Sequences in Clinical Studies

There is great need for techniques, that quantitatively assess subtle tissue changes beyond the gross pathology in multiple sclerosis. We evaluated a new 3DbSSFP MTR protocol yielding maximal sensitivity to MT in human brain. We compared this 3D-bSSFP with the commonly used 2D-GRE approach in a clinical setup, and evaluated the advantages of bSSFP in a quantitative study on 20 MS patients. Protocols were adjusted to similar acquisition times while using optimized sequence settings for both approaches. Higher, and esp. isotropic resolution, whole brain coverage, and stronger grey-white matter MTR contrast turned out to be the important advantages of 3D-bSSFP