Implementation and evaluation of a new pulse sequence for rapid acquisition of double inversion recovery images for simultaneous suppression of white matter and CSF.

We describe a fast double inversion recovery (DIR) imaging sequence that effectively attenuates signal from both white matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The pulse sequence uses a novel inversion/excitation scheme and fast spin-echo readout to maximize scan efficiency. The white matter/CSF suppressed images can be acquired from the entire brain in approximately 6 minutes. Evaluation of the fast DIR sequence on patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) demonstrates high lesion conspicuity.