Oliver Bieri1
1Division of Radiological Physics, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
Ultra-fast steady state free precession (SSFP) imaging refers to Cartesian SSFP imaging protocols using repetition times close to 1ms, as can be achieved with clinical whole body systems by fully exploiting and optimizing gradient switching patterns and RF pulse settings in combination with asymmetric echo readouts. Typically, an isotropic resolution of ~1.8mm can be achieved with repetition times TR ~ 1.4ms (TE ~ 0.5ms), providing high-resolution 3D artifact free balanced SSFP images even for targets with severe susceptibility variations, such as the lung.
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