Multiple single-point imaging (mSPI) as a tool for capturing and characterizing MR signals and repetitive signal disturbances with high temporal resolution: the MRI scanner as a high-speed camera.

In this paper we aim to lay down and demonstrate the use of multiple single-point imaging (mSPI) as a tool for capturing and characterizing steady-state MR signals and repetitive disturbances thereof with high temporal resolution. To achieve this goal, various 2D mSPI sequences were derived from the nearest standard 3D imaging sequences by (i) replacing the excitation of a 3D slab by the excitation of a 2D slice orthogonal to the read axis, (ii) setting the readout gradient to zero, and (iii) leaving out the inverse Fourier transform in the read direction. The thus created mSPI sequences, albeit slow with regard to the spatial encoding part, were shown to result into a series of densely spaced 2D single-point images in the time domain enabling monitoring of the evolution of the magnetization with a high temporal resolution and without interference from any encoding gradients. The high-speed capabilities of mSPI were demonstrated by capturing and characterizing the free induction decays and spin echoes of substances with long T2s (>30 ms) and long and short T2*s (4 - >30 ms) and by monitoring the perturbation of the transverse magnetization by, respectively, a titanium cylinder, representing a static disturbance; a pulsed magnetic field gradient, representing a stimulus inherent to a conventional MRI experiment; and a pulsed electric current, representing an external stimulus. The results of the study indicate the potential of mSPI for assessing the evolution of the magnetization and, when properly synchronized with the acquisition, repeatable disturbances thereof with a temporal resolution that is ultimately limited by the bandwidth of the receiver, but in practice governed by the SNR of the experiment and the magnitude of the disturbance. Potential applications of mSPI can be envisaged in research areas that are concerned with MR signal behavior, MR system performance and MR evaluation of magnetically evoked responses.