Quantitative 23Na-MRI of the intervertebral disk at 3T

Monitoring the tissue sodium content (TSC) in the intervertebral disk geometry by MRI is sensitive measure to diagnose degenerative disk disease (DDD) and of lumbar back pain (LBP) in intervertebral disks. However, application of quantitative sodium concentration measurements in 23Na-MRI is highly challenging due to the lower in vivo concentrations and smaller gyromagnetic ratio. Moreover, imaging the intervertebral disk geometry places higher demands because the necessary RF volume coils produces highly inhomogenous transmit field patterns. In this study, we reported for the first time quantitative sodium concentration in the intervertebral disks at clinical field strengths (3T).