MR neurography (MRN) provides direct visualization of peripheral nerves and allows for detecting pathologies. Isotropic 3D MRN has been suggested as an effective method to evaluate overall nerve structures and subtle morphological changes; however, its clinical applications to the lumbosacral plexus have been limited. In this work, we optimized 3D FSE acquisition combined with a Dixon fat-water separation technique to provide uniform signal over the large volume and to suppress vessel signal. In vivo experiments with patients having a lower back pain at 3T demonstrated the clinical feasibility of using the proposed methods for evaluating nerve pathologies.
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