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Abstract #4071

A Comparison of 3D-GRASE and EPI for Vessel-Encoded Arterial Spin Labeling

Thomas William Okell1,2, Michael Chappell1, Matthias Gnther3,4, Peter Jezzard1

1FMRIB Centre, Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 2Department of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 3Faculty for Physics and Electrical Engineering, University Bremen, Bremen, Germany; 4Fraunhofer MEVIS-Institute for Medical Image Computing, Bremen, Germany


In this study we compare echo planar imaging (EPI) and 3D-GRadient and Spin Echo (3D-GRASE) readouts with a vessel encoded arterial spin labelling preparation. Comparable vascular territory maps were obtained in both cases. The 3D-GRASE images had twice the signal-to-noise ratio and reduced signal drop-out but suffered from some blurring in the slice direction despite the use of parallel acceleration in one dimension. We conclude that 3D-GRASE is a viable option for vascular territory imaging but would be improved by reduced blurring which could be achieved by using parallel acceleration in two dimensions, for example.