Dataset Information

High-resolution gradient-recalled echo imaging at 9.4T using 16-channel parallel transmit simultaneous multislice spokes excitations with slice-by-slice flip angle homogenization.

ABSTRACT: PURPOSEIn order to fully benefit from the improved signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios at 9.4T, the challenges of B1+ inhomogeneity and the long acquisition time of high-resolution 2D gradient-recalled echo (GRE) imaging were addressed.THEORY AND METHODSFlip angle homogenized excitations were achieved by parallel transmission (pTx) of 3-spoke pulses, designed by magnitude least-squares optimization in a slice-by-slice fashion; the acquisition time reduction was achieved by simultaneous multislice (SMS) pulses. The slice-specific spokes complex radiofrequency scaling factors were applied to sinc waveforms on a per-channel basis and combined with the other pulses in an SMS slice group to form the final SMS-pTX pulse. Optimal spokes locations were derived from simulations.RESULTSFlip angle maps from presaturation TurboFLASH showed improvement of flip angle homogenization with 3-spoke pulses over CP-mode excitation (normalized root-mean-square error [NRMSE] 0.357) as well as comparable excitation homogeneity across the single-band (NRMSE 0.119), SMS-2 (NRMSE 0.137), and SMS-3 (NRMSE 0.132) 3-spoke pulses. The application of the 3-spoke SMS-3 pulses in a 48-slice GRE protocol, which has an in-plane resolution of 0.28?×?0.28?mm, resulted in a 50% reduction of scan duration (total acquisition time 6:52?min including reference scans).CONCLUSIONTime-efficient flip angle homogenized high-resolution GRE imaging at 9.4T was accomplished by using slice-specific SMS-pTx spokes excitations. Magn Reson Med 78:1050-1058, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

SUBMITTER: Tse DHY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5574011 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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High-resolution gradient-recalled echo imaging at 9.4T using 16-channel parallel transmit simultaneous multislice spokes excitations with slice-by-slice flip angle homogenization.

Tse Desmond H Y DHY Wiggins Christopher J CJ Poser Benedikt A BA

Magnetic resonance in medicine 20161023 3

<h4>Purpose</h4>In order to fully benefit from the improved signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios at 9.4T, the challenges of B1+ inhomogeneity and the long acquisition time of high-resolution 2D gradient-recalled echo (GRE) imaging were addressed.<h4>Theory and methods</h4>Flip angle homogenized excitations were achieved by parallel transmission (pTx) of 3-spoke pulses, designed by magnitude least-squares optimization in a slice-by-slice fashion; the acquisition time reduction was achieve ...[more]

PMID: 27774641

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Project description:PurposeSpin-echo functional MRI (SE-fMRI) has the potential to improve spatial specificity when compared with gradient-echo fMRI. However, high spatiotemporal resolution SE-fMRI with large slice-coverage is challenging as SE-fMRI requires a long echo time to generate blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast, leading to long repetition times. The aim of this work is to develop an acquisition method that enhances the slice-coverage of SE-fMRI at high spatiotemporal resolution.Theory and methodsAn acquisition scheme was developed entitled multisection excitation by simultaneous spin-echo interleaving (MESSI) with complex-encoded generalized slice dithered enhanced resolution (cgSlider). MESSI uses the dead-time during the long echo time by interleaving the excitation and readout of 2 slices to enable 2× slice-acceleration, while cgSlider uses the stable temporal background phase in SE-fMRI to encode/decode 2 adjacent slices simultaneously with a "phase-constrained" reconstruction method. The proposed cgSlider-MESSI was also combined with simultaneous multislice (SMS) to achieve further slice-acceleration. This combined approach was used to achieve 1.5-mm isotropic whole-brain SE-fMRI with a temporal resolution of 1.5 s and was evaluated using sensory stimulation and breath-hold tasks at 3T.ResultsCompared with conventional SE-SMS, cgSlider-MESSI-SMS provides 4-fold increase in slice-coverage for the same repetition time, with comparable temporal signal-to-noise ratio. Corresponding fMRI activation from cgSlider-MESSI-SMS for both fMRI tasks were consistent with those from conventional SE-SMS. Overall, cgSlider-MESSI-SMS achieved a 32× encoding-acceleration by combining Rinplane × MB × cgSlider × MESSI = 4 × 2 × 2 × 2.ConclusionHigh-quality, high-resolution whole-brain SE-fMRI was acquired at a short repetition time using cgSlider-MESSI-SMS. This method should be beneficial for high spatiotemporal resolution SE-fMRI studies requiring whole-brain coverage.

Dataset Information

High-resolution gradient-recalled echo imaging at 9.4T using 16-channel parallel transmit simultaneous multislice spokes excitations with slice-by-slice flip angle homogenization.

Publications

High-resolution gradient-recalled echo imaging at 9.4T using 16-channel parallel transmit simultaneous multislice spokes excitations with slice-by-slice flip angle homogenization.

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