AUTHORS: Arn L, van Heeswijk RB, Stuber M, Bastiaansen JAM

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 86(3): 1434-1444, March 2021

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Designing a new T2- preparation (T2- Prep) module to simultaneously pro-vide robust fat suppression and efficient T2 preparation without requiring an addi-tional fat- suppression module for T2- weighted imaging at 3T.Methods: The tip- down radiofrequency (RF) pulse of an adiabatic T2- Prep module was replaced by a custom- designed RF- excitation pulse that induces a phase dif-ference between water and fat, resulting in a simultaneous T2 preparation of water signals and the suppression of fat signals at the end of the module (a phaser adiabatic T2- Prep). Numerical simulations and in vitro and in vivo electrocardiogram (ECG)- triggered navigator- gated acquisitions of the human heart were performed. Blood, myocardium, and fat signal- to- noise ratios and right coronary artery vessel sharpness were compared against previously published adiabatic T2- Prep approaches.Results: Numerical simulations predicted an increased fat- suppression bandwidth and decreased sensitivity to transmit magnetic field inhomogeneities using the pro-posed approach while preserving the water T2- Prep capabilities. This was confirmed by the tissue signals acquired in the phantom and the in vivo images, which show similar blood and myocardium signal- to- noise ratio, contrast- to- noise ratio, and sig-nificantly reduced fat signal- to- noise ratio compared with the other methods. As a result, the right coronary artery conspicuity was significantly increased.Conclusion: A novel fat- suppressing T2- Prep method was developed and implemented that showed robust fat suppression and increased vessel sharpness compared with conventional techniques while preserving its T2- Prep capabilities.

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