Evaluation of Tissue Characteristics Using Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting in Dementia Patients with Various Clinical Stages

Motivation: The development of magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) brought new insight of quantitative imaging but rare in neurodegenerative disease. Goal(s): Investigate the change of tissue characteristics in certain regions of clinical dementia brain and explore the potential of MRF as an imaging biomarker. Approach: We employed MRF in patients with symptoms of dementia, accompanied with clinical rating methods and diagnosis to study if tissue characteristics play a role in dementia patients. Results: The T1 values of thalamus were different between types of dementia and clinical rating. The T1 values of putamen presents the correlation with clinical mental rating. Impact: The potential of Magnetic resonance fingerprinting as a biomarker in patients with dementia was revealed. The changes of tissue characteristics in thalamus and putamen play a role in clinical dementia symptoms.