A Fast Thermal Imaging Sequence for Focused Ultrasound Ablation of the Liver

Yuval Zur¹

We developed a restricted FOV gradient echo EPI sequence for focused ultrasound ablation of the liver during free respiration. The scan time is ~50 msec with spatial resolution of 1.8 by 1.8 mm. A low SAR b1 insensitive broad band RF pulse is employed to suppress signal out of the FOV. The images are filtered along the time axis and SNR improves by ~2.9. The filtering enables us to acquire up to 3 slices simultaneously, or improve spatial resolution by using the UNFOLD technique.