Patrick
Hiepe1, Karl-Heinz Herrmann2, Christian Ros2,
Jrgen R. Reichenbach2
1Medical Physics Group, Department of
Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Jena University Hospital , Jena,
Germany; 2Medical Physics Group, Department of Diagnostic and
Interventional Radiology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
So
far, most clinical DWI applications have relied on EPI although DWI EPI is limited
by susceptibility artifacts. STEAM MRI with robust turbo-FLASH readout is a
fast imaging technique with subsecond measurement times. This robustness is
traded against SNR by using a less signal efficient acquisition technique. To
achieve maximum efficiency of the turbo-STEAM sequences a reduced number of
PE lines is necessary. An effective way is to utilize the ZOOM imaging
technique, which limits the excited FOV in the PE direction to include only
the ROI. This can be used to measure various regions of the body with a
narrow FOV, e.g. lumbar spine, without the occurrence of foldover or aliasing
artifacts. In comparison with EPI, DW ZOOM single-shot STEAM MRI of the
lumbar spine exhibits a reduced SNR, but avoids regional signal losses and
geometric distortions. Furthermore, no fat suppression is necessary. Our case
report indicates that the DW ZOOM turbo-STEAM MRI technique appears to be a
good alternative to the standard DW EPI.