The content of this volume has been added to eMagRes (formerly Encyclopedia of Magnetic Resonance) – the ultimate online resource for NMR and MRI.

Up to now MRI could not be used clinically for imaging fine structures of bones or muscles. Since the late 1990s however, the scene has changed dramatically. In particular, Graeme Bydder and his many collaborators have demonstrated the possibility – and importance – of imaging structures in the body that were previously regarded as being “MR Invisible”. The images obtained with a variety of these newly developed methods exhibit complex contrast, resulting in a new quality of images for a wide range of new applications.

This Handbook is designed to enable the radiology community to begin their assessment of how best to exploit these new capabilities. It is organised in four major sections – the first of which, after an Introduction, deals with the basic science underlying the rest of the contents of the Handbook. The second, larger, section describes the techniques which are used in recovering the short T2 and T2* data from which the images are reconstructed. The third and fourth sections present a range of applications of the methods described earlier. The third section deals with pre-clinical uses and studies, while the final section describes a range of clinical applications. It is this last section that will surely have the biggest impact on the development in the next few years as the huge promise of Short T2 and T2* Imaging will be exploited to the benefit of patients.

In many instances, the authors of an article are the only research group who have published on the topic they describe. This demonstrates that this Handbook presents a range of methods and applications with a huge potential for future developments.

About EMR Handbooks / eMagRes Handbooks 

The Encyclopedia of Magnetic Resonance (up to 2012) and eMagRes (from 2013 onward) publish a wide range of online articles on all aspects of magnetic resonance in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. The existence of this large number of articles, written by experts in various fields, is enabling the publication of a series of EMR Handbooks / eMagRes Handbooks on specific areas of NMR and MRI. The chapters of each of these handbooks will comprise a carefully chosen selection of articles from eMagRes. In consultation with the eMagRes Editorial Board, the EMR Handbooks / eMagRes Handbooks  are coherently planned in advance by specially-selected Editors, and new articles are written (together with updates of some already existing articles) to give appropriate complete coverage. The handbooks are intended to be of value and interest to research students, postdoctoral fellows and other researchers learning about the scientific area in question and undertaking relevant experiments, whether in academia or industry.

Contents

۱ An Introduction to Short and Ultrashort T2/T2* Echo Time (UTE] Imaging
۲ The Physics of Relaxation
۳ Mechanisms for Short T2 and T2* in Collagen-Containing Tissue
۴ Physical Chemistry of Collagen: The Molecular Basis of Magic Angle Contrast
۵ Centric SPRITE MRI of Biomaterials with Short T2* s
۶ Selective Excitation for Ultrashort Echo Time Imaging
۷ Practical Implementation of UTE Imaging
۸ MRI with Zero Echo Time
۹ AWSOS Pulse Sequence and High-Resolution UTE Imaging
۱۰ Capturing Signals from Fast-Relaxing Spins with Frequency-Swept MRI: SWIFT
۱۱ Imaging in the Presence of Prostheses
۱۲ MR Imaging near Metal with UTE-MAVRIC Sequences
۱۳ Effects of Hip Prostheses In Situ Exposed to 64 and 128 MHz RF Fields
۱۴ Absorption Methods for ESR and NMR Imaging of Solid Materials
۱۵ Contrast Manipulation in MR Imaging of Short T2 and T2* Tissues
۱۶ Magnetization Transfer- Ultrashort Echo Time (MT-UTE) Imaging
۱۷ Ultrashort TE Phase and Spectroscopic Imaging of Short T2 Tissues in the Musculoskeletal System
۱۸ Quantitative Ultrashort TE (UTE) Imaging of Short T2 Tissues
۱۹ MRI-Based Attenuation Correction for Emission Tomography Using Ultrashort Echo Time Sequences
۲۰ Imaging of Very Fast Flows with PC-UTE
۲۱ Double-Quantum Filtered MRI of Connective Tissues
۲۲ Positive-Contrast Visualization of Iron-Oxide-Labeled Cells
۲۳ Imaging of Short and Ultrashort T2 and T2* Components of Tissues, Fluids and Materials in the Body
۲۴ Image-Based Assessment of Cortical Bone
۲۵ Ultrashort Echo Time Imaging of Phosphorus in Man
۲۶ Knee
۲۷ Short and Ultrashort TE Imaging of Cartilage and Fibrocartilage
۲۸ Myelin Water Imaging
۲۹ Quantitative Metabolic MR Imaging of Human Brain Using 170 and 23Na
۳۰ Sodium MRI in Man: Technique and Findings
۳۱ Short T2/T2* Imaging of Calcification and Atherosclerosis
۳۲ Ultrashort TE in Cancer Imaging
۳۳ Uttrashort TE Imaging of Cryotherapy
۳۴ Imaging around Orthopedic Hardware: Clinical Applications