Abstract #2467

Effects of Flip Angle Profile in T2 Quantification Using 3D Dual Echo Steady-State (DESS)

Pei-Hsin Wu¹, Cheng-Wen Ko², Ming-Long Wu³, Hsiao-Wen Chung,¹⁴

¹Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; ²Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; ³Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; ⁴Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Previous studies demonstrate that DESS provides quantitative T2 imaging. While using 3D acquisition, however, distinct estimated T2 values along section direction are found, particularly at larger flip angles. In this study, we investigate the influence of the uniformity of flip angle distribution in T2 quantification using 3D DESS. Simulation and experiment results suggest that the reliability of T2 quantification across slices within one slab could be improved with appropriate setting of RF flip angle profile, which provides benefit for clinical applications especially when slices comparison is required.