Performance Evaluation of MRI Based on Newly Developed MRiLab Simulation Using Inversion Recovery Pulse Sequence with Various Inversion Times

Among the representative types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences, inversion recovery (IR) can improve the ability to detect brain lesions. The purpose of this study was to confirm the MRI characteristics according to TI changes in IR sequences. In this study, the MRiLab simulation program a newly developed, well-validated program was used to quantitatively analyze image characteristics with respect to the TI value in the IR sequence. Brain tissue phantom and standard phantom images were acquired by changing the TI at 100-ms intervals from 100 to 2,500 ms. In brain tissue phantom images, signal intensity (SI) values showed the lowest signals at TI values of 400, 700, and 2,500 ms in the white matter (WM), gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), respectively. The contrast evaluated in CSF-WM was superior at 400 ms and the lowest at 1,800 ms. In addition, the contrast evaluated in WM-GM was superior at 400 ms and the lowest at 1,500 ms. In the case of the brain standard phantom, the SI and contrast showed the same tendency as brain tissue phantom. In conclusion, an appropriate TI value was derived for obtaining images with excellent SI and contrast between brain tissues using a newly developed simulation program.