Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the ability of simultaneous multislice triple-echo steady-state (SMS-TESS) imaging to provide quantitative maps of multiple tissue parameters, i.e., longitudinal and transverse relaxation times (T1 and T2), proton density (PD), and off-resonance (ΔB0), in the human brain at 3T from a single scan.
Methods
TESS acquisitions were performed in 2D mode to reduce motion sensitivity and accelerated by an SMS excitation scheme (CAIPIRINHA) with SENSE reconstruction. SMS-acceleration factors (R) of 2 and 4 were evaluated. The in vitro and in vivo validation process included standard reference scans to analyze the accuracy of T1, T2, and ΔB0 estimates, as well as single-slice TESS measurements.
Results
For R = 2, the quantification of T1, T2, PD, and ΔB0 was overall reliable with marginal noise enhancement. T1 and T2 values were in good agreement with the reference measurements and single-slice TESS. For R = 4, the agreement of ΔB0 with the standard reference was excellent and the determination of T1, T2, and PD was reproducible; however, increased variations in T1 and T2 values with respect to single-slice TESS were observed.
Conclusion
SMS-TESS has shown potential to offer rapid simultaneous T1, T2, PD, and ΔB0 mapping of human brain tissues.
