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Abstract #4539

Effects of Relaxation During RF Pulses on the Signal Intensity of Spoiled Gradient Echo Sequences

Nicolas Boulant1

1CEA, NeuroSpin, Gif sur Yvette, France


We present an analysis of the steady state signal in the presence of relaxation during RF pulses in spoiled gradient echo sequences. It is shown that a minor attenuation of the magnetization vector, of the order of one to some percent, can have dramatic consequences on the measured signal in the short TR/long T1 applications, yielding in some cases a substantial loss of signal at the Ernst angle. Measurements on a phantom at 3 teslas are performed to verify this analysis.