Which imaging characteristic is maximized with increased TR?

Increasing the repetition time (TR) in MRI sequences primarily enhances T2 information. TR is the time interval between consecutive excitation pulses applied to the same slice. A longer TR allows for more complete recovery of longitudinal magnetization before the next pulse, which means that more T2 decay information can be captured and distinguished during signal acquisition.

When TR is increased, there is more opportunity for spins within tissues to relax fully during the time between excitations, thus increasing the contrasts observed between tissues with varying T2 values. This is particularly important for evaluating tissues with different relaxation properties, such as pathological versus normal tissues, making it easier to identify lesions or other abnormalities. Therefore, maximizing TR directly contributes to better T2 contrast in the resulting images.

While other options might seem relevant, they do not relate as directly to the effects of TR in the same way. For instance, increased spatial resolution is more dependent on factors like voxel size and matrix rather than TR. Patient comfort and contrast resolution, while they can be influenced by many parameters in MRI, are not the primary characteristics impacted by simply increasing TR. Thus, the enhancement of T2 information is the most pertinent outcome of maximizing TR.