Purpose: Tissue microstructure can influence quantitative magnetic resonance imaging such as relaxation rate measurements. Consequently, relaxation rate mapping can provide useful information on tissue microstructure. In this work, the theory on relaxation mechanisms of the change of the relaxation rate ∆R2⁎ in the presence of spherical susceptibility sources in a spin bearing medium is validated in simulations and phantom experiments for the coexistence of two species of susceptibility sources.
Methods: The influence of coexisting spherical perturbers with magnetic susceptibilitys of different signs was evaluated in Monte Carlo simulations including diffusion effects in the surrounding medium. Simulations were compared with relaxometry measurements at 1.5 Tesla and at 3 Tesla. The phantoms used to validate the simulations were built from agarose gel containing calcium carbonate and tungsten carbide particles of different size and concentration.
Results: The Monte Carlo simulations showed, that the change in relaxation rate only depends on the overall amount of susceptibility producing structures in the simulation volume and no difference was found, if mixtures of positive and negative particles were simulated. Phantom measurements within the static dephasing regime showed linear additivity of the effects from positive and negative susceptibility sources that were present within the same voxel.
Conclusions: In summary, both the simulations and the phantom measurements showed that changes in the relaxation rate ΔR2⁎ add up linearly for spherical particles with different susceptibilities within the same voxel if the conditions for the static dephasing regime are fulfilled. If particles with different susceptibilities have both different sizes and violate the conditions of the static dephasing regime, effects on relaxation rates might no longer be linear.
Keywords: Magnetic susceptibility; Microstructure; Relaxation rate; Relaxation time; Static dephasing regime.
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