Ananth J. Madhuranthakam1, Aya Yassin2,3,
Jean H. Brittain4, David C. Alsop2,3, Neil M. Rofsky2,3
1MR Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare,
Boston, MA, United States; 2Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; 3Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA, United States; 4MR Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare,
Madison, WI, United States
MRI
has gained increased attention for whole-body screening of tumor
metastasis. The commonly used
sequences are STIR and DW-EPI.
However, both are SNR limited and require multiple signal averages
increasing the total scan time. In
addition, DW-EPI images are also subject to distortion in larger FOVs, and
are typically limited to low resolution, axial plane imaging. The primary objective of whole-body screening
is to minimize the background tissue signal while simultaneously highlighting
tumor signal in a rapid acquisition.
Such a technique is presented in this work using SSFSE readout while
suppressing signal from fat, fluid and blood vessels.
Keywords