Processing of radial fast spin‐echo data for obtaining T 2 estimates from a single k‐space data set

Radially acquired fast spin‐echo data can be processed to obtain T 2 ‐weighted images and a T 2 map from a single k ‐space data set. The general approach is to use data at a specific TE (or narrow TE range) in the center of k ‐space and data at other TE values in the outer part of k ‐space. With this method high‐resolution T 2 ‐weighted images and T 2 maps are obtained in a time efficient manner. The mixing of TE data, however, introduces errors in the T 2 ‐weighted images and T 2 maps that affect the accuracy of the T 2 estimates. In this work, various k ‐space data processing methods for reconstructing T 2 ‐weighted images and T 2 maps from a single radial fast spin‐echo k ‐space data set are analyzed in terms of the accuracy of T 2 estimates. The analysis is focused on the effect of image artifacts, object dependency, and noise on the T 2 estimates. Results are presented in computer‐generated phantoms and in vivo. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.