Michael Carl1, John P. Mugler III2, Gordon D. Cates3, Wilson Miller2
1GE Healthcare, Applied Science Lab, Milwaukee, WI, USA; 2Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; 3Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
We developed a pulse sequence for generating diffusion maps at sub-millisecond time scales by using the diffusion-sensitizing gradients themselves to sample k-space. A 2D plane of k-space can be covered in this manner by changing the directional orientation the diffusion gradients following each excitation RF pulse. After M excitations, where M is the number of radial lines required to adequately sample k-space, we can reconstruct N distinct diffusion-weighted images. Tests in a 3He gas phantom yielded self-consistent diffusion maps, and bode well for generating diffusion maps at sub-alveolar length scales in the lung.