Comparison of different pulse sequences for in vivo determination of T1 relaxation times in the human brain.

Quantitative in vivo determination of T1 relaxation times by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is hampered by several potential sources of error. This study focused on the influence of the radiofrequency pulse sequences applied with special attention to the significance of the repetition time (TR). T1 measurements were performed on the human brain using a whole body MR scanner operating at 1.5 tesla. Three different pulse sequences were compared including two 6-points inversion recovery (IR) sequences with TR = 2.0 s and 4.0, respectively, and a 12-points partial saturation inversion recovery (PSIR) sequence with TR varying between 0.24 and 8.0 s. The median T1 relaxation times obtained in cortical grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid were significantly shorter in the IR experiments at TR = 2 s than in those carried out at TR = 4 s. Concerning white matter the discrepancy was much less pronounced, but still statistically significant. Supplementary phantom measurements indicated that the higher T1 values are increasingly underestimated when TR is reduced to 2 s. The results suggest that the PSIR sequence or IR sequences with a TR greater than 2 X the T1 level of the tissue type investigated should be employed for accurate T1 determination by MRI in clinical work.