Armin Michael Nagel1, Frederik Bernd Laun1, Marc-Andr Weber2, Christian Matthies1, Wolfhard Semmler1, Lothar Rudi Schad3
1Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; 2Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; 3Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, University Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
A density adapted 3D radial projection reconstruction pulse sequence (DA-3DPR) is presented that provides a more efficient k-space sampling than conventional 3D projection reconstruction sequences (3DPR). The gradients of the DA-3DPR sequence are designed such that the averaged sampling density in each spherical shell of k-space is constant. Benefits for low SNR applications are demonstrated with the example of sodium imaging. In simulations of the point-spread function, the SNR is increased by the factor 1.66. Using analytical and experimental phantoms, it is shown that the DA-3DPR sequence allows higher resolutions and is more robust in the presence of B0-inhomogeneities.