Tissue characterization by image processing subtraction: windowing of specific T1 values.

A method for windowing specific T1 values is presented. A 1.0 T imager with two routine pulse sequences was employed: A T1-weighted spin echo (SE) sequence and a short tau inversion recovery STIR sequence (fat-suppressed IR). A T1 window for fat was obtained by subtracting the STIR image from the SE image. Negative values were coded black. The method was tested on a normal human thigh, on a human liver with confirmed fatty infiltration, and on the livers of four live burbots. The fat-containing tissues of the two human volunteers were well depicted. The differences in fat concentration among the burbot livers were also clearly shown. The fat intensity seen in the images correlated well with the chemically measured fat concentration. This subtraction method for windowing T1 values proved feasible for fat. The method could be used for tissues with other short T1 values as well.