Manoj Shrestha1, Pavel Hok2,3, Ulrike Nöth2, Bianca Lienerth2, Ralf Deichmann2. 1. Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe University Frankfurt, Schleusenweg 2-16, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. shrestha@med.uni-frankfurt.de. 2. Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe University Frankfurt, Schleusenweg 2-16, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 3. Department of Neurology, Palacky University Olomouc and University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work was to optimize the acquisition of diffusion-weighted (DW) single-refocused spin-echo (srSE) data without intrinsic eddy-current compensation (ECC) for an improved performance of ECC postprocessing. The rationale is that srSE sequences without ECC may yield shorter echo times (TE) and thus higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) than srSE or twice-refocused spin-echo (trSE) schemes with intrinsic ECC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The proposed method employs dummy scans with DW gradients to drive eddy currents into a steady state before data acquisition. Parameters of the ECC postprocessing algorithm were also optimized. Simulations were performed to obtain minimum TE values for the proposed sequence and sequences with intrinsic ECC. Experimentally, the proposed method was compared with standard DW-trSE imaging, both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: Simulations showed substantially shorter TE for the proposed method than for methods with intrinsic ECC when using shortened echo readouts. Data of the proposed method showed a marked increase in SNR. A dummy scan duration of at least 1.5 s improved performance of the ECC postprocessing algorithm. CONCLUSION: Changes proposed for the DW-srSE sequence and for the parameter setting of the postprocessing ECC algorithm considerably reduced eddy-current artifacts and provided a higher SNR.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work was to optimize the acquisition of diffusion-weighted (DW) single-refocused spin-echo (srSE) data without intrinsic eddy-current compensation (ECC) for an improved performance of ECC postprocessing. The rationale is that srSE sequences without ECC may yield shorter echo times (TE) and thus higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) than srSE or twice-refocused spin-echo (trSE) schemes with intrinsic ECC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The proposed method employs dummy scans with DW gradients to drive eddy currents into a steady state before data acquisition. Parameters of the ECC postprocessing algorithm were also optimized. Simulations were performed to obtain minimum TE values for the proposed sequence and sequences with intrinsic ECC. Experimentally, the proposed method was compared with standard DW-trSE imaging, both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: Simulations showed substantially shorter TE for the proposed method than for methods with intrinsic ECC when using shortened echo readouts. Data of the proposed method showed a marked increase in SNR. A dummy scan duration of at least 1.5 s improved performance of the ECC postprocessing algorithm. CONCLUSION: Changes proposed for the DW-srSE sequence and for the parameter setting of the postprocessing ECC algorithm considerably reduced eddy-current artifacts and provided a higher SNR.
Keywords:
Diffusion-weighted imaging; Eddy-current compensation; Short echo time; Signal-to-noise ratio
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