Table 7

The table represents different plaque constituents and their MRI visible protons in active chemical groups. These different constituents exhibit specific MRI signal intensity determined by their specific relaxation times T1 and T2 at specific 9.4 T magnetic field.

Plaque components
Chemical structure
T1(ms)
T2(ms)
MRI Visibility*





S = N(1 - e-T1/TR)
S = N(1 - e-TE/TR)
T1-w
T2-w
PD-w

Lipid
-CH2-CH2-
1643.3 ± 25.6
52.9 ± 2.5
+
-
+/-
Cholesterol
-CH3
643.5 ± 34.5
14.3 ± 0.9
+
+/-
+/-
Calcium
Bound form
56.5 ± 10
2.2 ± 0.4
--
--
--
Collagen
-CH2 (-Gly-Hyp-Pro-)
1750.4 ± 25.4
54.1 ± 0.8
+
+/-
+
Elastin
-CH2-NH2
1640.6 ± 16.2
62.2 ± 1.1
+/-
+/-
+
Atheroma
Paramagnetic Heme
1204.2 ± 14.4
16.0 ± 1.2
+
-
-

* The relative gray scale MR signal intensity is shown as +(bright hyperintense), +/-(gray isointense), -(dark hypointense) on T1-weighted, T2-weighted and proton density(PD) weighted images.

Sharma and Singh Thrombosis Journal 2004 2:5   doi:10.1186/1477-9560-2-5