Premium
A multicontrast imaging method using steady‐state free precession with alternating RF flip angles
Author(s) -
Kim Joonsoo,
Seo Hyunseok,
So Seohee,
Park HyunWook
Publication year - 2018
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.27342
Subject(s) - steady state free precession imaging , flip angle , contrast (vision) , nuclear magnetic resonance , imaging phantom , signal (programming language) , radio frequency , precession , physics , chemistry , optics , magnetic resonance imaging , computer science , radiology , medicine , telecommunications , astronomy , programming language
Purpose To obtain multicontrast images including fat‐suppressed contrast image, a novel multicontrast imaging method using an SSFP sequence with alternating RF flip angles is proposed. Methods The proposed method uses the balanced SSFP sequence with 2 flip angles. In general, the conventional balanced SSFP sequence has its own unique contrast, which combines both FID signal and echo signal under a steady‐state condition. By using alternating RF flip angles and RF phase cycling, various image contrasts weighted by proton density, T 1 , and T 2 can be obtained. The proposed method offers multicontrast images with fat suppression by using the combination of 2 images obtained just after alternating RF pulses, respectively. Results As demonstrated by simulations, phantom and in vivo experiments, the proposed method provides multicontrast knee images including fat‐suppressed contrast images. Conclusion The proposed method can be a useful tool for clinical diagnosis, such as the cartilage segmentation and the fast screening of lesions.