Abstract #1238

King K

Collagen exhibits orientation-dependent signal amplitude and T2 due to residual dipolar coupling. A magic echo can be used to refocus dipolar coupling and increase signal amplitude and T2. Although its effectiveness has been demonstrated in 2D spin echo pulse sequences, the magic echo uses hard RF pulses and, for multislice imaging, is more suited for 3D pulse sequences. A magic echo was implemented in a 3D Fast Spin Echo sequence. T2-weighted images of phantoms and volunteers show the expected increase in collagen signal. Some increase in ghosting and blurring relative to a conventional 3D Fast Spin Echo is also observed.