Determination of Optimal Liver-Lesion Contrast in LOW-TIDE B-SSFP Imaging

Neville Dali Gai¹, Lawrence Yao¹

LOW-TIDE is a magnetization preparation scheme for balanced steady-state free precession that provides T2 weighting (instead of T2/T1 weighting of b-SSFP sequences) and intrinsic fat suppression when used in conjunction with partial Fourier encoding along phase direction. It is particularly suitable for abdominal imaging. Contrast characteristics have a complex dependency on the number of 180 pulses and ramp down (to asymptotic final flip angle) pulses used. In this work, we investigate optimal contrast between liver and solid tumors through simulations. Predictions are corroborated with experimental measurements on patients with metastatic liver disease.