MRF-derived T1 and T2 map alterations in four different brain atrophy patterns in a cohort of MCI subjects

Brain atrophy evaluation is crucial in the assessment of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the most common MRI measures (mostly T1-weighted derived) cannot be considered as quantitative. In this study we use T1-weighted images to identify homogeneous groups of MCI subjects in terms of brain atrophy and we assessed the capability of T1 and T2 quantification through MRF technique to elucidate at voxel level the brain alterations with respect to an age-matched healthy population. Indeed, atrophy patterns can be identified in both T1 and T2 maps paving the way to innovative brain atrophy assessment in a quantitative fashion.