Motivation: Low-field MRI has the potential to improve healthcare worldwide. T1 mapping, a biomarker for brain pathology and development, lacks a rapid and repeatable protocol at low field MRI. Goal(s): Develop and validate a clinically feasible, reproducible T1 mapping protocol at 64 mT, achieving stable measurements across multiple sites. Approach: We implemented a 10-minute T1 mapping protocol on identical low-field MRI systems at six sites, acquiring in vivo (N=60) and phantom data to assess repeatability. Results: The protocol achieved high reproducibility, with inter-site variations below ±3% in phantom, providing repeatable non significantly different T1 values in white and grey matter in N=60 volunteers. Impact: Our multi-site study establishes repeatable T1 mapping in vivo and in phantom at 64 mT in a 10-minute protocol, offering robust, quantitative brain tissue characterization suitable for clinical applications in Point-of-Care settings.
Lena et al. (Tue,) studied this question.