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A flexible fast spin echo triple‐echo Dixon technique
Author(s) -
Son Jong Bum,
Hwang KenPin,
Madewell John E.,
Bayram Ersin,
Hazle John D.,
Low Russell N.,
Ma Jingfei
Publication year - 2017
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.26186
Subject(s) - echo (communications protocol) , computer science , spin echo , pulse sequence , magnetic resonance imaging , imaging phantom , fast spin echo , echo time , t2 weighted , phase (matter) , nuclear magnetic resonance , artificial intelligence , algorithm , physics , optics , medicine , radiology , computer network , quantum mechanics
Purpose To develop a flexible fast spin echo (FSE) triple‐echo Dixon (FTED) technique. Methods An FSE pulse sequence was modified by replacing each readout gradient with three fast‐switching bipolar readout gradients with minimal interecho dead time. The corresponding three echoes were used to generate three raw images with relative phase shifts of − θ , 0, and θ between water and fat signals. A region growing–based two‐point Dixon phase correction algorithm was used to joint process two separate pairs of the three raw images, yielding a final set of water‐only and fat‐only images. The flexible FTED technique was implemented on 1.5T and 3.0T scanners and evaluated in five subjects for fat‐suppressed T2‐weighted imaging and in one subject for post‐contrast fat‐suppressed T1‐weighted imaging. Results The flexible FTED technique achieved a high data acquisition efficiency, comparable to that of FSE, and was flexible in scan protocols. The joint two‐point Dixon phase correction algorithm helped to ensure consistency in the processing of the two separate pairs of raw images. Reliable and uniform separation of water and fat was achieved in all of the test cases. Conclusion The flexible FTED technique incorporates the benefits of both FSE and Dixon imaging and provided more flexibility than the original FTED in applications such as fat‐suppressed T2‐weighted and T1‐weighted imaging. Magn Reson Med 77:1049–1057, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine