Imaging Intralesional Heterogeneity in Multiple Sclerosis using a T2 Filter

Magnetic resonance imaging of lesion heterogeneity in multiple sclerosis (MS) allows the discrimination of the severity of neural injury, and provides insight into the progression of the MS lesions. We propose a new method to visualize lesion heterogeneity based on the brain transverse relaxation time (T2) values obtained from dual-echo spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging. We show that visualization of the different components of the lesion can be enhanced using a T2 filter that nulls moderately prolonged T2 values. In seven MS patients, the reconstructed T2-filtered images showed regions of dark and bright intensity, presumably corresponding to mild and severe tissue injury, respectively, which were similar to those produced by a previous algebraic method. The proposed filter provides a simpler and insightful formulation for characterizing MS lesion heterogeneity.