Paramagnetic salt and agarose recipes for phantoms with desired T1 and T2 values for low-field MRI

Tissue-mimicking reference phantoms are indispensable for the development and optimization of magnetic resonance (MR) measurement sequences. Phantoms have greatest utility when they mimic the MR signals arising from tissue physiology; however, many of the properties underlying these signals, including tissue relaxation characteristics, can vary as a function of magnetic field strength. There has been renewed interest in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at field strengths less than 1 T, and phantoms developed for higher field strengths may not be physiologically relevant at these lower fields. This work focuses on developing materials with specific relaxation properties for lower magnetic field strengths. Specifically, we developed recipes that can be used to create synthetic samples for target nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation values for fields between 0.0065 and 0.55 T. $T_1$ and $T_2$ mixing models for agarose-based gels doped with a paramagnetic salt (one of CuSO₄, GdCl₃, MnCl₂, or NiCl₂) were created using relaxation measurements of synthetic gel samples at 0.0065, 0.064, and 0.55 T. Measurements were evaluated for variability with respect to measurement repeatability and changing synthesis protocol or laboratory temperature. The mixing models were used to identify formulations of agarose and salt composition to approximately mimic the relaxation times of five neurological tissues (blood, cerebrospinal fluid, fat, gray matter, and white matter) at 0.0065, 0.0475, 0.05, 0.064, and 0.55 T. These mimic sample formulations were measured at each field strength. Of these samples, the GdCl₃ and NiCl₂ measurements were closest to the target tissue relaxation times. The GdCl₃ or NiCl₂ mixing model recipes are recommended for creating target relaxation samples below 0.55 T. This work can help development of MRI methods and applications for low-field systems and applications.