Abstract #4405

Multiband Excitation Enables Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Brain Stem and Cervical Spinal Cord in Clinically Feasible Scan Times at 3T

Samantha By^1,2, Ed Mojahed^2,3,4, Robert L. Barry^2,4, and Seth A. Smith^2,4

¹Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, OH, United States, ⁴Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Multiband excitation with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was implemented at 3T to enable characterization of the cervical spinal cord and brainstem in a clinically feasible scan time. The efficiency of the multiband acquisition (9 minutes) was compared to a standard acquisition (18 minutes), which included all of the same parameters except no multiband was applied. Results with multiband generated high-resolution images with similar SNR to the standard (whole cord: multiband – 6.60, no multiband – 6.14). Additionally, DTI measurements from the multiband acquisition were in good agreement to the standard, yielding a percent difference of less than 3% for the cervical spine.

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