Myelin imaging with myelin-sensitive inversion recovery (MySIR) in multiple sclerosis

Motivation: Myelin imaging that can assess demyelination needs to be established for testing new drugs and determining treatment strategies in multiple sclerosis (MS). Goal(s): To investigate the correlation between myelin-sensitive inversion recovery imaging (MySIR) and inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) to determine whether MySIR is feasible as myelin imaging in MS. Approach: We evaluated the correlation between MySIR and ihMT in MS plaque and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM). Results: MySIR correlated with ihMT in plaques of MS, and the discrimination ability between plaque and normal-appearing white matter of MySIR was equivalent to that of ihMT. Impact: MySIR is feasible as myelin imaging for MS plaque. MySIR can achieve high resolution and has the potential to measure myelin content accurately.