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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis at 7.0 Tesla
Published on: February 19, 2021
Improved in vivo detection of cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis using double inversion recovery MR imaging at 3
Birgit Simon1, Stephan Schmidt, Carsten Lukas
1Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Objective:
To investigate the impact of a higher magnetic field strength of 3 Tesla (T) on the detection rate of cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, in particular using a dedicated double inversion recovery (DIR) pulse sequence.
Methods:
Thirty-four patients with clinically isolated syndromes or definite MS were included. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 1.5 T and 3 T, including T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE), fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and DIR sequences. All images were analysed for focal lesions categorised according to their anatomical location.
Results:
The total number of detected lesions was higher at 3 T across all pulse sequences. We observed significantly higher numbers of lesions involving the cortex at 3 T using a DIR sequence. DIR at 3 T showed 192% more pure intracortical (p < 0.001) and 30% more mixed grey matter-white matter lesions (p = 0.008). No significant increase in cortical lesions could be detected on the FLAIR and T2-weighted images. Using the T2-weighted and FLAIR sequences, significantly more lesions could be detected at 3 T in the infratentorial, periventricular and juxtacortical white matter.
Conclusion:
DIR brain MR imaging at 3 T substantially improves the sensitivity of the detection of cortical lesions compared with the standard magnetic field strength of 1.5 T.
