FUSE was developed to include a range of RF excitation pulses, trajectories, dimensionalities, and long-T2 suppression techniques, enabling real-time interchangeability of acquisition parameters. Additionally, we developed an improved 3D deblurring algorithm to correct for off-resonance artifacts. Several experiments were conducted to validate the efficacy of FUSE, by comparing different approaches for off-resonance artifact correction, variations in RF pulse and trajectory combinations, and long-T2 suppression techniques. All scans were performed on a 3 T system using an in-house short-T2 phantom. The evaluation of results included qualitative comparisons and quantitative assessments of the SNR and contrast-to-noise ratio.
Using the capabilities of FUSE, we demonstrated that we could combine a shorter readout duration with our improved deblurring algorithm to effectively reduce off-resonance artifacts. Among the different RF and trajectory combinations, the spiral trajectory with the regular half-inc pulse achieves the highest SNRs. The dual-echo subtraction technique delivers better short-T2 contrast and superior suppression of water and agar signals, whereas the off-resonance saturation method successfully suppresses water and lipid signals simultaneously.
In this work, we have validated the use of our new FUSE sequence using a short T2 phantom, demonstrating that multiple UTE acquisitions can be achieved within a single sequence. This new sequence may be useful for acquiring improved UTE images and the development of UTE imaging protocols.
方法:FUSE被开发为包括一系列RF激励脉冲,轨迹,维度,和长T2抑制技术,实现采集参数的实时互换性。此外,我们开发了一种改进的3D去模糊算法来校正非共振伪影。进行了几个实验来验证FUSE的功效,通过比较不同的非共振伪影校正方法,射频脉冲和轨迹组合的变化,和长T2抑制技术。所有扫描均使用内部短T2体模在3T系统上进行。结果的评估包括定性比较和信噪比和信噪比的定量评估。
结果:使用FUSE的功能,我们证明,我们可以将较短的读出持续时间与我们改进的去模糊算法相结合,以有效地减少非共振伪影。在不同的射频和轨迹组合中,具有规则半inc脉冲的螺旋轨迹达到最高SNR。双回波减影技术提供更好的短T2对比度和水和琼脂信号的优越抑制,而非共振饱和方法成功地同时抑制了水和脂质信号。
结论:在这项工作中,我们已经使用短T2体模验证了新FUSE序列的使用,证明可以在单个序列中实现多个UTE采集。该新序列可用于获取改进的UTE图像和开发UTE成像协议。