Relaxation Constants and Relaxivities as Biomarkers in NMR Imaging: Biochemical-NMR Correlation in Medicine

Abstract

A systematic review on NMR relaxation constants with clinical applications has been performed based on current recommendations by publishers and foundations. An exhaustive overview of currently used NMR techniques and their potential in radiology sciences was obtained by creating a search strategy and explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria. PubMed and Elsevier (Scopus & Science Direct) search was narrowed down to few selected studies reporting T1 or T2 constant values of human tissues, resulting in 405 initial studies, out of which approximately 20% were found relevant and exact fit in this review criteria. The nervous system, brain, prostate and connective tissue such as cartilage were analyzed, while the breast subjects were common of studies. There was thin agreement between our previously published T1 or T2 relaxation constant values, and new recent methodologies and experimental setups differed a vast strongly. Scarcely any contemporary (in years 2000-2023) assets have been recognized as devoted to concentrating on the unwinding time constants of tissues for their analytic applications. Most distributions focused on suggested indicative guidelines, for instance, bosom procurement of T1-or T2-weighted pictures were gained in the wake of utilizing gadolinium-based contrast specialists. Because there is still insufficient data to determine whether or not a repeatable or reliable analysis of relaxation times can be used in diagnostics, this remains primarily a restricted clinical research topic. So far, quantitative MRI or qMRI might be recommended as a theranostic help providing general insight into the nature of lesions (benign vs. malignant) and its treatment response. However, additional adjunct means are also necessary to differentiate between specific lesion types.