Abstract #2654

3D Double Echo TrueFISP and FLASH Ultra-Short Echo Time Musculoskeletal Imaging

Sonia Nielles-Vallespin¹, Peter Speier¹, Peter Weale², Saurabh Shah², Edgar Mueller¹

¹Cardiovascular MR, Siemens AG Healthcare Sector, Erlangen, Germany; ²Cardiovascular MR, Siemens AG Healthcare Sector, Chicago, USA

Double Echo TrueFISP and FLASH Ultra-short Echo Time (UTE) images of the head are presented and compared in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and depiction of the short T2 components. The results demonstrate that a 3D TrueFISP UTE acquisition would provide significantly increased contrast, SNR and less sensitivity to eddy currents than a FLASH UTE acquisition. TrueFISP difference images showed up to 1.6 time higher SNR than FLASH difference images and better suppression of long T2 components. The delineation of bone appears much more precise in the TrueFISP subtraction image for identical acquisition time.