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sequences
Spin Echo
SE sequences serve as reference for tissue contrast.
Pros:
Anatomic imaging
Reference for tissue signal and image contrast
Cons:
Very long acquisition time
Clinical use:
Almost all the organs explored in MRI
T1-weighted
When both the TR and the TE are short, the image is said to be T1weighted.
Spin Echo
T1-weighted
Pros:
Anatomic imaging
Cons:
Very long acquisition time
Clinical use:
Almost all the organs explored in MRI
T2-weighted
T2-weighted
Pros:
Imaging of water/fluids (CSF, edema, biliary MRI)
Cons:
Very long acquisition time
PD-weighted
PD-weighted
Cons:
Very long acquisition time
Clinical use:
Osteoarticular
Pediatric Neuroradiology
Such fast spin echo sequences use one 90 excitation pulse and
two or more 180 pulses in the same repetition time and with
different phase-encoding gradient steps, to acquire multiple echoes
that will fill the k-space.
Pros:
Reduction of scan time
Low sensitivity to magnetic susceptibility artifacts
Cons:
Modification of tissue contrast
Clinical use:
Almost all the organs explored in MRI
Rare
Pros:
Cons:
Decreased signal to noise ratio
Low spatial resolution
Clinical use:
Biliary and urinary tract exploration ,myelography
Pros:
Excellent contrast between tissues (gray or dark) and still fluids (bright)
Very fast : less sensitive to motion, breath-hold sequences
Cons:
Decrease of signal to noise ratio (low signal amplitude of late echoes, long
effective TE, partial filling of k-space)
Low spatial resolution
Clinical use:
Hepato-biliary and urinary tract exploration
Cardiac MRI without gating
Inversion Recovery
At time TI (inversion time), a regular spin echo (or gradient recalled echo or
echo planar) sequence is performed, starting with an excitation pulse.
Inversion Recovery
Fat Signal Suppression
STIR
STIR
Pros:
Fat signal suppression
Cons:
Increased scan time
Clinical use:
MSK SYSTEM
FLAIR
Pros:
Elimination of CSF signal
Useful with T2-weighted images (edema)
Cons:
Long scan time
Clinical use:
Neuroradiology
4. Gradient Echo
Gradient Echo
Gradient Echo
The actual decay of the transverse magnetization is due to
several factors:
Gradient Echo
Signal weighting in GE imaging lies on 3 parameters:
TR
TE
Flip angle
The resulting contrast in basic GE sequences is a variable mix of
T1 and T2*:
the higher the flip angle chosen, the more T1-weighted the image
will be
the shorter the TE obtained, the less T2*-weighted the image will be
Gradient Echo
There is an optimal combination between the TR and
the flip angle so that the NMR signal is maximal.
The optimal flip angle is called the Ernst angle.
It is calculated from the TR value and the T1-tissue
specific value to give the best flip angle to choose if we
want to obtain the maximal signal for a given tissue.
Gradient Echo
Gradient Echo
Pros:
fast technique
Cons:
T2*-weighted images instead of T2
More sensitive to magnetic susceptibility artifacts
Clinical use:
eg. Hemorrhage , calcification
Steady-state
The GE technique allows for very short TR and TE.
The TR can be so short that the spins on the slice plane do not
have enough time to dephase completely the MR signal never
decays completely. These sequences are called steady-state.
They require that TR is less than T2*.
The steady-state technique produces T2*-weighted images very
fast (in less than 1 second with TRs < 10 msec).
The contrast between tissues and fluids is very high and images
have a good signal to noise ratio.
As TEs are also very short, blood generally appears bright as it
does not have enough time to move out of the slice plane.
It restores the original phase state before phaseencoding, which is needed for spatial localization. Such
sequences are called steady-state GRE.
Pros:
Clinical use:
urinary tract, pelvic and biliary explorations
Pediatrics and antenatal imaging ++
Cardiac and vascular imaging ++
Cons:
Magnetic susceptibility artifacts
Clinical use:
Cardio-vascular MRI
1.
2.
3.
Spatial resolution
FOV 25
FOV 35
FOV 50
INCREASING NOISE
Surface coil