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Abstract #0637

SSFSE Sequence for Fast Elastography in the Presence of Susceptibility

Ken-Pin Hwang1,2, Zhenghui Zhang3, Brandy J. Reed4, Michelle L. Underwood4, Roger Jason Stafford4, Peggy T. Tinkey5, David C. Alsop6,7, Rajesh Uthamanthil5

1Applied Science Laboratory, General Electric Healthcare, Houston, TX, United States; 2Department of Imaging Physics, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States; 3GE Healthcare, Waueksha, WI, United States; 4Department of Imaging Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States; 5Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States; 6Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; 7Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States


The use of a modified phase contrast gradient echo sequence has been shown to be a robust technique for MR elastography of the liver. However, each phase encoded view requires long motion encoding gradients that extended the echo time, making the sequence sensitive to susceptibility and lengthening overall acquisition time. In this work we combine a motion encoding preparation sequence with an SSFSE sequence originally designed for diffusion weighted imaging. Phase information from a single set of motion encoding gradients is preserved for each echo in the echo train, thus accelerating acquisition in a spin echo based sequence.