Magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the functional behavior of parotid salivary glands in normal subjects and radiotherapy patients

Abstract

Materials/Methods: T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI images were obtained in five normal subjects and two post-RT patients using a custom echo-planar imaging (EPI) pulse sequence. Signal was received using a commercial coil placed adjacent to the parotid glands. For each patient, EPI multi-slice image sets were obtained at 30 second intervals. A 3 cc volume of lemon juice was delivered to each subject via plastic tubing after 3 ’resting’ frames. Images were analyzed by averaging multi-slice regions-of-interest within the parotid glands or the cerebellum.