Synopsis

Keywords: Neuro: Brain, Contrast mechanisms: Electromagnetic tissue properties, Neuro: White matter

Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a computational technique that calculates voxel-wise magnetic susceptibility values, typically based on the phase images of gradient-echo MRI data. Magnetic susceptibility values of brain tissues can be paramagnetic (i.e. positive) or diamagnetic (i.e. negative) depending on molecular and cellular composition of the tissue. As a result, magnetic susceptibility of brain tissue can be changed by traumatic brain injury (TBI), both in the short term and the long term. This course will discuss the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these alterations.