3T MR imaging of the brain.

The advent of very high field clinical scanners that operate at 3T is taking structural and functional imaging to new levels and is reinvigorating clinical spectroscopy, fMR imaging, and noncontrast-enhanced methods of MRA. Most of the challenges that are related to 3T imaging have been addressed to facilitate routine clinical imaging. An awareness of the complexities that underlie the solutions to these challenges is important to the continued improvements to the 3T platform so that its maximal potential can be reached. The development of the multichannel-head coils and the improvement in the design of body coils, concurrently with the development of multichannel capabilities that enable parallel imaging, have benefited all field platforms. Perhaps the added value of parallel imaging has been greatest at 3T where the additional signal can be exploited. The definition of very high field is a moving target, and may be well on its way to 7.0 T, although in terms of the current clinical state of the art, 3T is our current reference.