Abstract #3024

Scheffler K, Gass A, Hirsch J, Klarhfer M

Purpose of the present work was the development of a multi-echo spin echo imaging sequence allowing the investigation of tissue compartments with T2 values of the order of 10ms. To achieve echo times of 2ms and below, a 3D sequence using non-selective hard pulses for excitation and refocusing was implemented. A short repetition time of 160ms and parallel imaging allowed the acquisition of 8 echo images with a spatial resolution of 1.3x2.6x5mm3 in about 11minutes. In preliminary experiments on healthy volunteers bi-exponential signal behaviour was found for short echo times in white matter.