Study of Aliasing Error with SENSE in Body Diffusion Image Using Single Shot EPI at 3T

Isao Muro¹, Tomohiko Horie¹, Yutaka Imai¹

In SENSE, a reference scan usually needs to be performed to create a sensitivity profile of each receiver channel. Gradient echo (GRE) sequences are often used in the reference scan. In diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) using single shot EPI with SENSE, non-negligible aliasing artifacts often remain in the reconstructed images. We suppose that these artifacts result from misregistration between the reference images acquired using GRE sequences and the DW images acquired using EPI. In this study, we have used two types of acquisition methods to create sensitivity profiles: GRE sequences and EPI, and compared the residual artifacts in the reconstructed images.Our study suggests that EPI sensitivity profiles be used when imaging data are acquired using a sigle shot EPI with SENSE although GRE sensitivity profiles have often been used in practice.