Single-shot GRASE imaging without fast gradients.

Based on the CPMG sequence, gradient- and spin-echo (GRASE) echo train length is limited by T2 decay rather than the T2* decay and phase error in echo-planar techniques, permitting a longer image acquisition period. An ultrafast GRASE sequence, utilizing a single excitation, generates a 128 x 56 true T2-weighted image in 200 ms on an unmodified commercial scanner without fast gradient switching, extreme field homogeneity, or fat signal suppression.