Reproducibility of Whole-Body Variable Flip Angle T1 Mapping Using Only Two Flip Angles

We investigate the feasibility of whole-body (WB) variable flip angle (VFA) T1 mapping using linear least squares fitting with only two flip angles (FAs) in order to obtain WB T1 maps within a clinically viable timeframe. This could enable its use as an imaging biomarker in metastatic cancer. We assessed the agreement across eight subjects in a variety of abdominal tissues between T1 estimates fitted using eight FAs and just 2 FAs. We found that VFA T1 mapping can be achieved by acquiring only two FAs with minimal loss to precision, providing the lower FA is between 2.5° and 7.5°.