Performance of an elliptical centric view order for signal enhancement and motion artifact suppression in breath-hold three-dimensional gradient echo imaging.

An elliptical centric phase-encoding (PE) order is applied to steady-state 3DFT imaging as performed during a single breath-hold or following contrast agent administration. In a set of simulation, phantom, and in vivo experiments, this truly centric PE order is shown to be both more resistant to breathing artifact and more capable of suppressing undesirable venous signals that can arise following peak arterial enhancement than a number of other centric PE techniques that are presently in use. Unlike other PE orders, the elliptical centric ordering changes with the relative dimensions of the two PE fields of view and is optimal based on increasing k-space radius. It thus creates a temporally diminishing importance to the PE order. The specific advantages of such an acquisition are demonstrated.