Slab scan diffusion imaging.

For maximum robustness of a diffusion-weighted MR imaging sequence, it is desirable to use a single-shot imaging method. This article introduces a new single-shot imaging approach that combines the advantages of multiple spin-echoes with the technique of line scan diffusion imaging. A slab volume, which can be spatially encoded with fewer phase encodes than a regular field of view, is selected with 2D selective pulses. With the shorter echo train, the sensitivity to field inhomogeneities and chemical shift is thus greatly diminished. Further reduction is achieved by interleaving short gradient echo trains with refocusing spin-echo pulses. Optimized slice-selective RF pulses that produce flip angles close to 180 degrees are used to minimize the stimulated echo component. Motion-related phase shifts, which change polarity with each spin-echo excitation, will give rise to artifacts that are avoidable by processing even and odd spin-echoes separately. As with line scan diffusion imaging, the complete field of view is acquired by sequential scanning. Since with each shot several lines of data are collected, a considerable improvement over line scan diffusion imaging in terms of scanning speed is achieved. Diffusion data obtained in phantoms and normal subjects demonstrate the feasibility of this novel approach. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.