# Neuromelanin-Sensitive MRI of the Substantia Nigra: Comparing TSE and MT-GRE Contrast ESMRMB 2026 poster comparing TSE and MT-GRE neuromelanin-sensitive MRI of the substantia nigra. MT-GRE showed consistently higher substantia nigra contrast, a promising imaging biomarker for Parkinson's disease clinical trials. 1 Oct 26 publications # Neuromelanin-Sensitive MRI of the Substantia Nigra: Comparing TSE and MT-GRE Contrast Rebecca White [ ](https://x.com/intent/tweet?url=https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/publications/contrast-ratio-assessment-of-the-substantia-nigra-in-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri/) [ ](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/publications/contrast-ratio-assessment-of-the-substantia-nigra-in-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri/) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/publications/contrast-ratio-assessment-of-the-substantia-nigra-in-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri/) [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/publications/contrast-ratio-assessment-of-the-substantia-nigra-in-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri/) [ Download ](/assets/Uploads/IXICO_ESMRMB_2026_NM_MRI_v3_pdf.pdf) ![ESMRMB 2026](/assets/blog-images/ESMRMB-2026__ScaleMaxWidthWzgwMF0_FillMaxWzgwMCw0NTBd_ExtRewriteWyJwbmciLCJ3ZWJwIl0.webp)**IXICO research presented at ESMRMB 2026 compares two MRI approaches for visualising the substantia nigra, a brain region strongly implicated in [**Parkinson's disease**](https://ixico.com/therapeutic-areas/parkinsons-disease "https://ixico.com/therapeutic-areas/parkinsons-disease"). [Download the poster](/assets/IXICO_ESMRMB_2026_NM_MRI_v3_pdf.pdf "Scientific poster: Contrast ratio assessment of the substantia nigra in neuromelanin-sensitive MR ")** The study compared two [neuromelanin-sensitive MRI acqusition techniques](https://ixico.com/services/imaging-biomarkers/advanced-mri "https://ixico.com/services/imaging-biomarkers/advanced-mri"), MT-GRE and TSE, in healthy volunteers and introduced a robust, segmentation-free framework to [quantitatively measure substantia nigra contrast](https://ixico.com/services/imaging-biomarkers "https://ixico.com/services/imaging-biomarkers"). Both techniques successfully visualised the region, but MT-GRE provided consistently higher contrast between the substantia nigra and surrounding tissue than TSE. The findings support the optimisation and more reproducible assessment of [neuromelanin-MRI](https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/publications/improving-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri-measurement "https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/publications/improving-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri-measurement") for future Parkinson's disease research and [clinical trials](https://ixico.com/services/trial-management "https://ixico.com/services/trial-management"). Further studies will evaluate the method's ability to differentiate patient groups and sensitively track disease-related changes over time. ![Representative MT-GRE (left) and TSE (right) images. Input panels show one of five scans; processed panels combine all five. Bottom panels are LEAP-derived midbrain-masked images, not SN segmentations.](/assets/Representative-MT-GRE-left-and-TSE-right-images__ResizedImageWzYwMCw0Mjdd.jpg) Representative MT-GRE (left) and TSE (right) images. Input panels show one of five scans; processed panels combine all five. Bottom panels are LEAP-derived midbrain-masked images, not SN segmentations. [ Back to Scientific Publications ](/news-and-resources/publications/) ### Recents ![Evaluating the Impact of Scanner Harmonisation with ComBat on Longitudinal Brain Volume Measures in Huntington’s Disease](/assets/blog-images/EHDN-2026-Poster__ScaleMaxWidthWzgwMF0_FillMaxWzgwMCw0NTBd_ExtRewriteWyJwbmciLCJ3ZWJwIl0.webp) 29 Oct 26 publications [Evaluating the Impact of Scanner Harmonisation with ComBat on Longitudinal Brain Volume Measures in Huntington’s Disease](/news-and-resources/publications/evaluating-the-impact-of-scanner-harmonisation-in-huntingtons-disease/) [Improving Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI measurement ](/news-and-resources/publications/improving-neuromelanin-sensitive-mri-measurement/) [Further validation of IXI technology platform automation capabilities](/news-and-resources/publications/further-validation-of-ixi-technology-platform-automation-capabilities/) [Interchangeability of blood-based biomarkers and PET to identify Alzheimer's disease pathology](/news-and-resources/publications/interchangeability-of-blood-based-biomarkers-and-pet-to-identify-alzheimers-disease-pathology/) [Biomarkers in patients with clinical signs of mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer's disease but without amyloid deposits on positron emission tomography](/news-and-resources/publications/biomarkers-in-patients-with-clinical-signs-of-mild-cognitive-impairment-or-mild-alzheimers-disease-but-without-amyloid-deposits-on-positron-emission-tomography/) ### Library [November 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/11/) [October 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/10/) [September 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/09/) [July 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/07/) [June 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/06/) [May 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/05/) [April 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/04/) [March 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/03/) [February 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/02/) [January 2026](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2026/01/) [2025](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2025/) [2024](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2024/) [2023](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2023/) [2022](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2022/) [2021](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2021/) [2020](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2020/) [2019](/news-and-resources/publications/archive/2019/)