1. MRI of the locus coeruleus and substantia nigra
Dr Timothy Rittman
Academic Foundation Year 2

2. Substantia nigra
Locus coeruleus

3. Imaging of SN

4. Sasaki et al

5. Effect of MT and SPIR

6. Magnetisation transfer
Neuromelanin
Macromolecules = short T2*
Off resonance radiofrequency pulse
Transfer of energy from macromolecules
water
?iron
SPIR
presaturation pulse
hidden MT effect

7. Method T1 MRI Repetition time 757ms Echo time 9.1ms
Voxel size = 0.47x0.47x2.75mm3
SPIR
7 healthy volunteers
MT not possible due to SAR limits

8. Results - Substantia nigra

9. Results - Locus coeruleus

10. Conclusion
The substantia nigra and locus coeruleus are visible using T1 weighted imaging with SPIR
Most likely due to an MT effect
Sequence is sensitive to neuromelanin
Specificity remains to be tested

14. Thanks to… Prof Auer All in Academic Radiology
All at Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre
Prof Mahida and Prof Hawkey