Abstract #4183

An Analytic Description of Steady-State Imaging with Dual RF Pulses and Gradient Spoiling

Hao Sun¹, Jeffrey Fessler¹, Jon Fredrik Nielsen²

¹Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; ²Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Small-tip fast recovery (STFR) imaging is a recently proposed steady-state sequence that has similar T2/T1 contrast as bSSFP but has the potential to simultaneously remove banding artifacts and transient fluctuations. At the end of each TR, the STFR method tips the magnetization back to the longitudinal axis using a tailored RF pulse. After the tip-up pulse, a gradient spoiler is applied. In this abstract, we derived an analytic expression for the STFR signal and verified the equation with simulations and phantom data. This new signal equation is useful for analyzing STFR, and potentially could be used for quantitative imaging.