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Reduced field‐of‐view MRI using outer volume suppression for spinal cord diffusion imaging
Author(s) -
Wilm B.J.,
Svensson J.,
Henning A.,
Pruessmann K.P.,
Boesiger P.,
Kollias S.S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.21167
Subject(s) - aliasing , nuclear magnetic resonance , artifact (error) , diffusion mri , magnetic resonance imaging , spin echo , relaxation (psychology) , signal (programming language) , pulse sequence , in vivo , physics , biomedical engineering , materials science , chemistry , nuclear medicine , computer science , medicine , artificial intelligence , radiology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , undersampling , programming language
A spin‐echo single‐shot echo‐planar imaging (SS‐EPI) technique with a reduced field of view (FOV) in the phase‐encoding direction is presented that simultaneously reduces susceptibility effects and motion artifacts in diffusion‐weighted (DW) imaging (DWI) of the spinal cord at a high field strength (3T). To minimize aliasing, an outer volume suppression (OVS) sequence was implemented. Effective fat suppression was achieved with the use of a slice‐selection gradient‐reversal technique. The OVS was optimized by numerical simulations with respect to T 1 relaxation times and B 1 variations. The optimized sequence was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. In simulations the optimized OVS showed suppression to <0.25% and ∼3% in an optimal and worst‐case scenario, respectively. In vitro measurements showed a mean residual signal of <0.95% ± 0.42 for all suppressed areas. In vivo acquisition with 0.9 × 1.05 mm 2 in‐plane resolution resulted in artifact‐free images. The short imaging time of this technique makes it promising for clinical studies. Magn Reson Med 57:625–630, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.