Fat-suppressed ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer (UTE-MT) modeling via subtraction of fat-selective image

Motivation: UTE-MT imaging has shown potential in probing the molecular composition and microenvironment of short-T2 tissues. Yet fat signals and chemical shift artifacts interfere with morphological contrast and UTE-MT measurements. Goal(s): To establish a fat suppression method for accurate UTE-MT imaging. Approach: We subtracted a fat-selective image from a series of MT-weighted UTE images of the knee to suppress fat signals before UTE-MT modeling. Results: The subtraction of fat-selective image successfully suppressed the fat signal without significantly compromising UTE-MT measurement. Impact: The fat-suppressed UTE-MT method shown in this study will improve the accuracy of quantifying molecular compositions of short-T2 tissues. This fat suppression method also has the potential to be applied to other UTE-based quantitative MR techniques.