Clinical evaluation of STrategically Acquired Gradient Echo (STAGE) multi-modal quantitative neuroimaging

Motivation: Standard clinical imaging collects 2D T1W and T2W spin echo imaging. These provide only T1W and T2W information, are not sensitive to blood products and are not quantitative. Goal(s): To demonstrate the 3D STrategically Acquired Gradient Echo (STAGE) imaging protocol can be used to supplement and/or replace conventional clinical neuroimaging. Approach: Eighty-five patients were scanned using conventional and STAGE neuroimaging protocols. Results: STAGE imaging found 30 cases with new findings compared to conventional imaging, including: developmental venous anomalies, microbleeds and other blood related diseases thanks to the R2*, QSM and SWI components. Impact: Multimodal imaging offers the potential to enhance clinical diagnosis especially for the detection of venous abnormalities and blood products such as microbleeds that cannot be detected with conventional clinical spin echo imaging.