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Abstract #2297

Out-Of-Slice Saturation with Steady State Preservation for Improved Slice Selectivity in 2D UTE Imaging

Axel J. Krafft1, Ruitian Song1, Ralf B. Loeffler1, Matthew D. Robson2, Claudia M. Hillenbrand1

1Radiological Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States; 2MRS Unit, Oxford University Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, Oxford, United Kingdom


2D UTE imaging employs half pulse excitation and radial sampling to realize ultra-short echo times and allows for detection of very short T2* species. However, the half pulse slice profile is very sensitive to gradient imperfections and the imaging steady state so that accurate T2* measurements based on 2D UTE imaging remains challenging. Here, a recently presented concept using out-of-slice saturation to suppress unwanted background signals in 2D UTE imaging is extended with a technique for preservation of the imaging steady state. The sequence could be demonstrated as a simple and robust approach for improved 2D UTE slice selectivity.