Neal Kepler Bangerter1,2, Garry E. Gold 3, Glen R. Morrell2, Brian Andrew Hargreaves3
1Electrical & Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA; 2Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 3Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Balanced SSFP (bSSFP) is a fast and highly SNR-efficient imaging technique, but can suffer from characteristic bands of signal loss in the presence of field inhomogeneity. Effective fat suppression with bSSFP is also challenging in regions with large field inhomogeneities. While techniques exist for both banding artifact reduction and fat suppression with bSSFP, they are sometimes incompatible and typically require a significant increase in scan time. In this work, we present a novel approach to simultaneous fat suppression and banding artifact reduction in bSSFP.