Ultra-High Resolution QSM of the Brain Iron Metabolism in the Cognitively Declined Adults at 7T MRI

Detection of iron aggregations associated with beta-amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease would help to understand the related pathophysiology in these cohorts. Aggregations of iron associated beta-amyloid should increase electron density and induce notable changes in local susceptibility value. With higher susceptibility at ultra-high field strengths, induced iron susceptibility is large enough to generate contrast relative to surrounding normal tissues that can be visualized by quantitative susceptibility techniques at 7 Tesla MRI. In this study, we used 7T MRI to analyze the iron-related pathologic markers in Alzheimer patients using the quantitative susceptibility mapping technique.