A single-point Dixon technique for fat-suppressed fast 3D gradient-echo imaging with a flexible echo time.

PURPOSE: To develop a single-point Dixon (SPD) technique that requires only data of a single echo with a flexible echo time, and to demonstrate its use for fat-suppressed, T1-weighted contrast agent enhancement studies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Raw data were collected using a product fast 3D gradient-echo pulse sequence. Phase-error removal and fat-suppression (FS) were achieved using a fully-automated region-growing algorithm. A water and fat phantom and the abdomen and breast of cancer patients before and after injection of gadolinium contrast agent were imaged at varying echo times. Scan time efficiency and overall FS quality were compared to those by the product fast 3D gradient-echo technique with conventional FS.
RESULTS: In phantom, the SPD technique achieved uniform FS for a wide range of echo times corresponding to the water and fat relative phase angles between 100 degrees and 160 degrees. In patients, the technique was able to achieve approximately 30% scan time reduction and more uniform FS when compared to using the conventional FS technique but otherwise identical scan parameters.
CONCLUSION: The SPD technique compares favorably in scan time efficiency and FS uniformity and can be useful for fast T1-weighted and fat-suppressed imaging with contrast agent administration. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.