Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026
Measurement of Tumor T2* Relaxation Times after Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Administration
Published on: May 19, 2023
Measuring in vivo cerebral maturation using age-related T2 relaxation times at 3T
Eva Bültmann1, Loukia M Spineli2, Hans Hartmann3
1Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Insights
T2 relaxation times in the brain decrease with age during childhood. These age-related changes in T2 values, measured using routine MRI, are consistent in both healthy and diseased children, suggesting potential as a biomarker.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Pediatric Radiology
- Biomarker Development
Background:
- T2 relaxation times are a key MRI parameter reflecting tissue properties.
- Understanding age-related changes in brain T2 values is crucial for interpreting pediatric MRI scans.
- Routine MRI data offers a potential source for assessing these developmental changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related changes in T2 relaxation times in the brain during infancy and childhood.
- To evaluate the utility of T2 values from routine MRI as a potential biomarker.
- To compare T2 relaxation time changes between healthy children and those with various clinical abnormalities.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 99 pediatric MRI examinations (3T) with normal conventional scans.
- Creation of T2 maps from triple echo turbo spin echo sequences.
- Measurement of T2 values in 22 brain regions for age-related analysis in healthy and diseased children.
Main Results:
- Age significantly reduced T2 relaxation times across all brain regions (p<0.05).
- T2 values showed a continuous decline with age, faster in the first 10 months and slower thereafter.
- No significant difference in age-related T2 changes was observed between healthy and diseased children.
Conclusions:
- Age-related T2 relaxation time changes in 22 brain regions can be determined from routine clinical pediatric MRI.
- T2 maps derived from clinical MRI data are valuable for assessing normal developmental trajectories.
- These findings support the use of T2 values as a potential biomarker for distinguishing normal from pathologic ranges.
Objective:
To examine age-related changes in T2 relaxation times during infancy and childhood in order to assess T2 values obtained from routine MRI as a biomarker.
Methods:
From our pool of clinical pediatric MRI examinations at 3T all patients with normal conventional MRI scans were retrospectively selected. Depending on their clinical findings the identified 99 patients (0-199months) were divided into 43 healthy controls and 56 diseased children with various clinical abnormalities (developmental delay, epilepsy, prematurity, and deafness). T2 maps based on routinely performed triple echo turbo spin echo sequences were created. T2 values were measured in 22 brain regions to determine age-related changes. We also investigated whether such changes differ between healthy and diseased children.
Results:
Age significantly reduced T2 relaxation times across all regions (p<0.05), but health status had no impact. With increasing age, T2 values decreased continuously, with declines faster over the first 10months and slower thereafter. Early rapid and later slow decline was similar in healthy and diseased groups.
Conclusions:
Using T2 maps based on clinical MRI data we could determine age-related T2 relaxation times in 22 brain regions during infancy and childhood. Our data have relevance for future investigator independent T2 relaxation time measurements in determining whether T2 values are within the normal range or should be considered as potentially pathologic.
