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Structural imaging of the cervical spinal cord with suppressed CSF signal using DANTE pulse trains
Author(s) -
Li Linqing,
Kong Yazhuo,
Zaitsu Yuri,
Matthews Lucy,
Palace Jacqueline,
Jezzard Peter
Publication year - 2015
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.25474
Subject(s) - spinal cord , magnetic resonance imaging , image quality , attenuation , flip angle , signal (programming language) , nuclear magnetic resonance , pulse (music) , cerebrospinal fluid , nuclear medicine , medicine , biomedical engineering , physics , radiology , optics , computer science , detector , image (mathematics) , pathology , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , programming language
Purpose We propose DANTE (Delays Alternating with Nutation for Tailored Excitation) moving fluid attenuation preparation pulse trains, in conjunction with T 1 , T 2 , and proton‐density‐weighted fast spin‐echo (T1w‐TSE, T2w‐TSE and PDw‐TSE) imaging readout, and three‐dimensional fast low flip angle shots (3D‐FLASH) T 1 ‐weighted imaging readout to achieve CSF‐suppressed high‐spatial resolution multicontrast cervical spinal cord images. Methods DANTE pulse trains, consisting of a rapid series of low flip angle radiofrequency pulses interspersed with gradients, were used to substantially attenuate the longitudinal magnetization of flowing spins relative to static tissue/fluid, whose longitudinal magnetization is mostly preserved. We hypothesized that the contrast between spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could be maximized due to moving CSF signal suppression. Results We demonstrate that metrics of contrast‐to‐noise ratio between spinal cord, nerve root, and CSF regions (CNR cord‐CSF and CNR nerve‐CSF ) are improved by at least a factor of 2 when compared with images acquired with non‐prepared approaches and with 2D multiple‐echo data image combination (MEDIC) imaging. In addition, we find that sagittal image quality can be significantly improved due to flow suppression effects from the DANTE preparation pluses. Conclusion DANTE prepared imaging techniques for moving CSF signal attenuation are promising tools for cervical spinal cord imaging. Magn Reson Med 74:971–977, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.