Magn Reson Med. 2013 Sep;70(3):657-63. doi: 10.1002/mrm.24858. Epub 2013 Jun 28.
Ultra-fast steady state free precession and its application to in vivo (1)H morphological and functional lung imaging at 1.5 tesla.
Magnetic resonance in medicine
Oliver Bieri
Affiliations
Affiliations
- Division of Radiological Physics, Department of Radiology, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
PMID: 23813579
DOI: 10.1002/mrm.24858
Abstract
PURPOSE: The speed limit for three-dimensional Fourier-encoded steady state free precession (SSFP) imaging is explored on a clinical whole body system and pushed toward a pulse repetition time (TR) close to or even below the 1 ms regime; in the following referred to as ultra-fast SSFP imaging.
METHODS: To this end, contemporary optimization strategies, such as efficient gradient switching patterns, partial echoes, ramp sampling techniques, and a target-related design of excitation pulses were applied to explore the lower boundaries in TR for SSFP-based Cartesian imaging.
RESULTS: Generally, minimal TR was limited in vivo by peripheral nerve stimulation, allowing a TR ∼1 ms for isotropic resolutions down to about 2 mm. As a result, ultra-fast balanced SSFP provides artifact-free images even for targets with severe susceptibility variations, and native high-resolution structural and functional in vivo (1)H imaging of the human lung is demonstrated at 1.5 T.
CONCLUSION: On clinical whole body MRI systems, the TR of SSFP-based Cartesian imaging can be pushed toward the 1 ms regime. As a result, ultra-fast SSFP protocols might represent a promising new powerful approach for SSFP-based imaging, not only for lung but also in a variety of clinical and scientific applications.
Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords: SSFP; imaging; lung; steady state; ultra‐fast
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