Abstract #3034

Whole-Brain FLAIR Using 3D TSE with Variable Flip Angle Readouts Optimized for 7 Tesla

John W. Grinstead¹, Oliver Speck², Dominik Paul, Lisa Silbert³, Louis Perkins³, William Rooney³

¹Siemens Healthcare, Portland, OR, United States; ²Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany; ³Oregon Health and Science University

Routine FLAIR uses a 2D inversion-recovery turbo spin echo pulse sequence having many high-SAR RF pulses, allowing only a few slices to be acquired at 7 Tesla. Recent work demonstrated the feasibility of using 3D IR-TSE with a T2-prepared IR and a reduced flip angle readout of 70 degrees to perform whole brain FLAIR at 7 Tesla for the first time. The present work extends this approach with a variable flip angle readout optimized for the T1 and T2 values of brain tissues at 7 Tesla to further improve the SAR, contrast, and SNR performance.