Inventors:
George Bartzokis - Los Angeles CA
Carolanne K. Phelan - Los Angeles CA
Assignee:
The Regents of the University of California - Oakland CA
International Classification:
G01N 2408, A61K 3326, G01V 300
Abstract:
The invention provides a specific measure of iron stores in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging. T. sub. 2 relaxation times in both lower-to-mid field strength magnetic resonance imaging instruments and a higher field strength instrument is evaluated. T. sub. 2 obtained at the higher field strength instrument is subtracted from T. sub. 2 obtained at the lower field strength instrument. This difference, T, is then correlated with a quantitative measure of the iron stores in vivo in the scanned tissue. A two-dimensional or multidimensional map of the scanned tissue is then constructed on the basis of T to visually identify different tissue types as being normal or abnormal, either through a visual determination based on gray scales or a numeric comparison based on quantitative measure. The introduction of artificial or nonbiological substances as opposed to natural ferritin, is permitted for further diagnostic use by application of this methodology.