Simultaneous multi-slice spin- and gradient-echo dynamic susceptibility-contrast perfusion-weighted MRI of gliomas.

Although combined spin- and gradient-echo (SAGE) dynamic susceptibility-contrast (DSC) MRI can provide perfusion quantification that is sensitive to both macrovessels and microvessels while correcting for T1 -shortening effects, spatial coverage is often limited in order to maintain a high temporal resolution for DSC quantification. In this work, we combined a SAGE echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence with simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) excitation and blipped controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (blipped CAIPI) at 3 T to achieve both high temporal resolution and whole brain coverage. Two protocols using this sequence with multi-band (MB) acceleration factors of 2 and 3 were evaluated in 20 patients with treated gliomas to determine the optimal scan parameters for clinical use. ΔR2 *(t) and ΔR2 (t) curves were derived to calculate dynamic signal-to-noise ratio (dSNR), ΔR2 *- and ΔR2 -based relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), and mean vessel diameter (mVD) for each voxel. The resulting SAGE DSC images acquired using MB acceleration of 3 versus 2 appeared visually similar in terms of image distortion and contrast. The difference in the mean dSNR from normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and that in the mean dSNR between NAWM and normal-appearing gray matter were not statistically significant between the two protocols. ΔR2 *- and ΔR2 -rCBV maps and mVD maps provided unique contrast and spatial heterogeneity within tumors.

High-resolution echo-planar spectroscopic imaging at ultra-high field.

MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) at ultra-high field (≥7 T) benefits from improved sensitivity that allows the detection of low-concentration metabolites in the brain. However, optimized acquisition techniques are required to overcome inherent limitations of MRSI at ultra-high field. This work describes an optimized method for fast high-resolution 1 H-MRSI of the brain at 7 T. The proposed acquisition sequence combines precise volume localization using semi-localization by adiabatic selective refocusing, fast spatial encoding using high-bandwidth symmetric echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI), and robust water suppression with variable power and optimized relaxation delays. This showed improved robustness to B0 and B1+ inhomogeneities, eddy currents, nuisance signal contamination and system instabilities. Furthermore, a method for correction of phase inconsistencies in symmetric EPSI enabled high-bandwidth measurements at 7 T. The proposed correction effectively removed spectral ghosting using a single-shot water reference scan. This framework was tested in healthy volunteers at 7 T and spectral quality was compared with lower-spatial-resolution scans, measured at 3 T using the same methodology. A gain in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) per unit volume and unit time of 1.57 was achieved, keeping acquisition time short (5 min) and the specific absorption rate within the permitted limits. This SNR enhancement obtained at ultra-high field enabled high-resolution (0.25-0.375 mL) metabolite mapping of the brain within a clinically feasible scan time. The correlation of the reconstructed maps with anatomical structures was observed, showing the diagnostic potential of the technique.

Accelerated five-dimensional echo planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging: Implementation and pilot validation in human brain.

PURPOSE: To implement an accelerated five-dimensional (5D) echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging sequence combining 3 spatial and 2 spectral encoding dimensions and to apply the sequence in human brain. METHODS: An echo planar readout was used to acquire a single spatial and a single spectral dimension during one readout. Nonuniform sampling was applied to the two phase-encoded spatial directions and the indirect spectral dimension. Nonlinear reconstruction was used to minimize the ℓ1-norm or the total variation and included a spectral mask to enhance sparsity. Retrospective reconstructions at multiple undersamplings were performed in phantom. Ten healthy volunteers were scanned with 8× undersampling and compared to a fully sampled single slice scan. RESULTS: Retrospective reconstruction of fully sampled phantom data showed excellent quality at 4×, 8×, 12×, and 16× undersampling using either reconstruction method. Reconstruction of prospectively acquired in vivo scans with 8× undersampling showed excellent quality in the occipito-parietal lobes and good quality in the frontal lobe, consistent with the fully sampled single slice scan. CONCLUSION: By utilizing nonuniform sampling with nonlinear reconstruction, 2D J-resolved spectra can be acquired over a 3D spatial volume with a total scan time of 20 min, which is reasonable for in vivo studies.

Correlated spectroscopic imaging of calf muscle in three spatial dimensions using group sparse reconstruction of undersampled single and multichannel data.

PURPOSE: To implement a 5D (three spatial + two spectral) correlated spectroscopic imaging sequence for application to human calf. THEORY AND METHODS: Nonuniform sampling was applied across the two phase encoded dimensions and the indirect spectral dimension of an echo planar-correlated spectroscopic imaging sequence. Reconstruction was applied that minimized the group sparse mixed ℓ2,1-norm of the data. Multichannel data were compressed using a sensitivity map-based approach with a spatially dependent transform matrix and utilized the self-sparsity of the individual coil images to simplify the reconstruction. RESULTS: Single channel data with 8× and 16× undersampling are shown in the calf of a diabetic patient. A 15-channel scan with 12× undersampling of a healthy volunteer was reconstructed using 5 virtual channels and compared to a fully sampled single slice scan. Group sparse reconstruction faithfully reconstructs the lipid cross peaks much better than ℓ1 minimization. CONCLUSION: COSY spectra can be acquired over a 3D spatial volume with scan time under 15 min using echo planar readout with highly undersampled data and group sparse reconstruction.

Application of compressed sensing to multidimensional spectroscopic imaging in human prostate.

The application of compressed sensing is demonstrated in a recently implemented four-dimensional echo-planar based J-resolved spectroscopic imaging sequence combining two spatial and two spectral dimensions. The echo-planar readout simultaneously acquires one spectral and one spatial dimension. Therefore, the compressed sensing undersampling is performed along the indirectly acquired spatial and spectral dimensions, and the reconstruction is performed using the split Bregman algorithm, an efficient TV-minimization solver. The four-dimensional echo-planar-based J-resolved spectroscopic imaging data acquired in a prostate phantom containing metabolites at physiological concentrations are accurately reconstructed with as little as 20% of the original data. Experimental data acquired in six healthy prostates using the external body matrix "receive" coil on a 3T magnetic resonance imaging scanner are reconstructed with acquisitions using only 25% of the Nyquist-Shannon required amount of data, indicating the potential for a 4-fold acceleration factor in vivo, bringing the required scan time for multidimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging within clinical feasibility.

Multi-Echo-Based Echo-Planar Spectroscopic Imaging Using a 3T MRI Scanner.

The use of spin-echoes has been employed in an Echo-Planar Spectroscopic Imaging (EPSI) sequence to collect multiple phase encoded lines within a single TR in a Multi-Echo-based Echo-Planar Spectroscopic Imaging technique (MEEPSI). Despite the T2 dependence on the amplitude of the spin-echoes, the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of the derived multi-echo Point Spread Function (PSF) is shown to decrease, indicating an improved overall spatial resolution without requiring any additional scan time. The improved spatial resolution is demonstrated in the one-dimensional (1D) spatial profiles of the N-Acetyl Aspartate (NAA) singlet along the phase encode dimension in a gray matter phantom. Although the improved spatial resolution comes at the expense of spectral resolution, it is shown in vivo that peak broadening due to T2* decay is more significant than the loss of resolution from using spin-echoes and therefore does not affect the ability to quantify metabolites using the LCModel fitting algorithm.