Fast oxygen-enhanced multislice imaging of the lung using parallel acquisition techniques.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an optimized multislice acquisition technique for oxygen-enhanced MRI of the lung using slice-selective inversion and refocusing pulses in combination with parallel imaging. An inversion recovery HASTE sequence was implemented with respiratory triggering to perform imaging in end-expiration and with ECG triggering to avoid image acquisition during the systolic phase. Inversion pulses and the readout of echo trains could be interleaved to decrease acquisition time. The sequence was evaluated in 15 healthy volunteers, comparing three acquisition schemes: (1) acquisition of four slices without parallel imaging; (2) acquisition of four slices with parallel imaging; (3) acquisition of six slices with parallel imaging. These multislice acquisitions were repeated 80 times with alternating inhalation of room air and oxygen. The oxygen-induced signal increase showed no significant difference with and without parallel imaging. However, only with parallel imaging did the interleaved acquisition of six or more slices become possible, thus enabling a more complete anatomic coverage of the lung. The average required end-expiration time per repetition to acquire six slices could be significantly reduced from 4112 ms without to 2727 ms with parallel imaging. Total acquisition time varied between 8 and 13 min depending on the respiratory frequency.