Myelin Volume Fraction Estimation in Multiple Sclerosis Lesions

Monitoring myelin content quantitatively is important in the study of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Here, a novel approach is proposed to estimate myelin volume fraction (MVF) of MS lesions from routine multi-echo gradient echo (mGRE) using biophysical modeling of the myelin sheaths. The obtained MVF values correlated significantly with the myelin water fraction (MWF) values obtained in the same lesions using conventional multicomponent T2 relaxometry. Moreover, the change in MVF values in newly enhancing lesions over the first year also correlated significantly with the change in MWF values over the same period.