T2 Weighted Preparation with Selective Response: Contrast Mechanism for Dark Blood Imaging and Arterial-Venous Discrimination

Peter Kellman¹, Anthony Z. Faranesh¹, J. Andrew Derbyshire¹, Logi Vidarsson²

T2-selective imaging may be used to provide contrast between tissues with differing T2 values and to provide suppression of long T2 species. Conventional T2 mapping or linear combination filtering requires multiple T2 weighted acquisitions. It is possible to design a selective T2-weighted RF preparation which has the benefit of a single acquisition. Selective T2-preparations have been demonstrated for imaging the meniscus of the knee with short T2. Initial results for cardio-vascular application are presented for a new design approach based on adiabatic pulses and phase sensitive reconstruction. This method has potential applications to oximetry and other tissue classification.