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Combining a reduced field of excitation with SENSE‐based parallel imaging for maximum imaging efficiency
Author(s) -
Mooiweer Ronald,
Sbrizzi Alessandro,
Raaijmakers Alexander J.E.,
van den Berg Cornelis A.T.,
Luijten Peter R.,
Hoogduin Hans
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.26346
Subject(s) - computer science , voxel , robustness (evolution) , electromagnetic coil , excitation , sense (electronics) , sensitivity (control systems) , magnetic resonance imaging , artificial intelligence , nuclear magnetic resonance , algorithm , physics , electronic engineering , chemistry , radiology , quantum mechanics , medicine , biochemistry , engineering , gene
Purpose To show that a combination of parallel imaging using sensitivity encoding (SENSE) and inner volume imaging (IVI) combines the known benefits of both techniques. SENSE with a reduced field of excitation (rFOX) is termed rSENSE. Theory and Methods The noise level in SENSE reconstructions is reduced by removing voxels from the unfolding process that are rendered silent by using rFOX. The silent voxels need to be identified beforehand, this is done by using rFOX in the coil sensitivity maps. In vivo experiments were performed at 7 Tesla using a 32‐channel receive coil. Results Good image quality could be obtained in vivo with rSENSE at acceleration factors that are higher than could be obtained using SENSE or IVI alone. With rSENSE we were also able to accelerate scans using an rFOX that was purposely designed to be imperfect or incompatible at all with IVI. Conclusion rSENSE has been demonstrated in vivo with two‐dimensionally selective radiofrequency pulses. Besides allowing additional scan acceleration, it offers a greater robustness and flexibility than IVI. The proposed method can be used with other field strengths, anatomies and other rFOX techniques. Magn Reson Med 78:88–96, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.