Implementation of wavelet-encoded MR imaging.

Reconstructions of images from wavelet-encoded data are shown. The method of MR wavelet encoding in one dimension was proposed previously by Weaver and Healy. The technique relies on selective excitation with wavelet-shaped profiles generated by special radio-frequency waveforms. The result of the imaging sequence is a set of inner products of the image with orthogonal functions of the wavelet basis. Inversion of the wavelet data is accomplished with an efficient algorithm with processing times comparable with those of a fast Fourier transform. The experiments show that wavelet encoding by selective excitation of wavelet-shaped profiles is feasible. Wavelet-encoded images are compared with phase-encoded images that have a similar signal-to-noise ratio, and there is no discernible degradation in image quality due to the wavelet encoding. Potential benefits of wavelet encoding are briefly discussed.