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Enhanced spectral shaping in steady‐state free precession imaging
Author(s) -
Çukur Tolga,
Bangerter Neal K.,
Nishimura Dwight G.
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.21413
Subject(s) - steady state free precession imaging , reduction (mathematics) , precession , compressed sensing , nuclear magnetic resonance , computer science , algorithm , magnetic resonance imaging , physics , mathematics , medicine , geometry , astronomy , radiology
Balanced steady‐state free precession (SSFP) is hindered by the inherent off‐resonance sensitivity and unwanted bright fat signal. Multiple‐acquisition SSFP combination methods, where multiple datasets with different fixed RF phase increments are acquired, have been used for shaping the SSFP spectrum to solve both problems. We present a new combination method (weighted‐combination SSFP or WC‐SSFP) that preserves SSFP contrast and enables banding‐reduction and fat‐water separation. Methods addressing the banding artifact have focused on either getting robust banding‐reduction (complex‐sum SSFP) or improved SNR efficiency (sum‐of‐squares SSFP). The proposed method achieves both robust banding‐reduction and an SNR efficiency close to that of the sum‐of‐squares method. A drawback of fat suppression methods that create a broad stop‐band around the fat resonance is the wedge shape of the stop‐band leading to imperfect suppression. WC‐SSFP improves the suppression of the stop‐band without affecting the pass‐band performance, and prevents fat signal from obscuring the tissues of interest in the presence of considerable resonant frequency variations. The method further facilitates the use of SSFP imaging by providing a control parameter to adjust the level of banding‐reduction or fat suppression to application‐specific needs. Magn Reson Med, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.