Displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) was developed for high-resolution myocardial displacement mapping. Pixel phase is modulated by myocardial displacement and data spatial resolution is limited only by pixel size. 2D displacement vector maps were generated for the systolic action in canines with 0.94 × 1.9 mm nominal in-plane resolution and 2.3 mm/π displacement encoding. A radial strain of 0.208 was measured across the free left ventricular wall over 105 ms during systole. DENSE displacement maps require small first-order gradient moments for encoding. DENSE magnitude images exhibit black-blood contrast which allows for better myocardial definition and reduced motion-related artifacts.

An interleaved gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (IGEPI) sequence was modified for and applied to dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging of the heart. Using IGEPI, images with 3.0 x 3.9 mm nominal in-plane resolution are acquired in 100 ms, enabling eight slices per heartbeat for a heart rate of 60 beats/min. The acquisition speed and use of saturation prepulses allows acquisition of short- and long-axis images during the same contrast bolus. IGEPI maintains the acquisition characteristics required for performing a quantitative first-pass perfusion analysis as well as providing improved coverage compared with conventional fast gradient echo.

A multi-echo imaging sequence suitable for high-resolution and accurate in vivo transverse relaxation time (T2) mapping has been implemented. The sequence was tested on phantoms and was used to measure T2 values in vivo in the rat brain, muscle, and fat at 7 T. Brain T2 maps are shown and regional variations in brain T2 are reported (41.8 ms in cortex, 47.9 ms in hippocampus). Results are compared to literature values obtained at lower field in vivo as well as high-field T2 measurements on excised rat tissues. The reported T2 values are generally smaller compared to lower-field-strength literature values. A discussion of the possible causes of these field effects on T2 is included (dipolar interaction, fast chemical exchange, and diffusion in susceptibility gradients).

A modified steady-state free precession (SSFP) diffusion sequence is proposed for high resolution renal imaging. A pair of bipolar diffusion gradients was used to minimize the errors in measured apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) caused by variations in T1, T2, and RF flip angle that have been observed with previously employed SSFP diffusion sequences. Motion sensitivity was reduced by the use of compensated gradients, frame-by-frame averaging, and a repetition time of 22 ms, which for a single-acquisition 128 x 128 image requires only 3 s. High resolution was achieved by signal averaging. The modified sequence was applied to in vivo diffusion measurements. In six normal rat kidneys the ADCs (mean +/- SD; x 10(-3) mm2/s) of the cortex, outer medulla, and inner medulla were 2.28 +/- 0.05, 2.38 +/- 0.10, and 2.95 +/- 0.05, respectively. The technique requires relatively large gradients to achieve adequate diffusion weighting.

As tissue oxygen tension (pO2) is an important variable in cancer therapy, it would be of major clinical benefit to be able to measure pO2 noninvasively. Current methods for determining pO2 in clinical settings are limited to superficial tumors. The authors measured the apparent diffusion constant (ADC) in an implanted murine fibrosarcoma (RIF-1) using magnetic resonance imaging and correlated the ADC with tissue pO2 measured by electron paramagnetic resonance oximetry. The ADC correlates significantly with tissue pO2 in this tumor (r = 0.89; n = 14) and so may provide a noninvasive index of pO2 in tumors.

A modified high-speed stimulated-echo acquisition mode (STEAM) diffusion sequence (90 degrees-TE/2-90 degrees-TM-[alpha-TE/2-STE]n) incorporating bipolar diffusion gradients that are less sensitive to macroscopic motion-induced artifacts is presented. Diffusion encoding was performed only during the first echo interval (TE1) with bipolar gradients that were implemented on all three mutually orthogonal axes. Calibration measurements on phantoms filled with water, isopropanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide yielded apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) consistent with published values. Non-ECG-triggered in vivo images acquired on rat brain with relatively high b values (approximately 450 s/mm2) indicated minimal motion artifacts. Evaluated ADCs averaged over the cortex, left mid-brain, right mid-brain, regions yielded (0.91 +/- 0.02), (1.06 +/- 0.02), (1.01 +/- 0.03) x 10(-3) mm2s-1, respectively.

No abstract

The selective suppression of fat using chemical shift selective (CHESS) sinc, gaussian presaturation, or binomial radiofrequency pulses are widely implemented techniques in magnetic resonance imaging. For applications wherein transmitter coils that generate inhomogeneous magnetic (B1), fields are used (e.g., surface coils), adiabatic radiofrequency pulses that are less susceptible to spatial variations in B1 amplitude will improve the spatial homogeneity of spin excitation angle. Herein, we describe the application of an adiabatic half-passage hyperbolic secant CHESS pulse suitable for acquiring fat-suppressed magnetic resonance images with surface coils on high-field systems. Images obtained from a water/fat phantom and from the abdominal region of a rat are presented indicating excellent suppression of fat signal from the entire coil-sensitive volume.