Fast, High Resolution T1-Mapping of the Human Lung Using an Inversion Recovery Radial Golden Angle Acquisition.

Simon Triphan¹, Philipp Ehses², Martin Blaimer¹, Jakob Kreutner², Felix Breuer¹, Peter Jakob, ¹²

The quantification of T1 in the human lung at 1.5T using an Inversion Recovery Snapshot FLASH experiment was improved by employing an asymmetric radial readout scheme: By measuring k-space with golden angle radial projections with maximal echo asymmetry, echo times could be significantly reduced yielding improved signal from lung tissue. The acquisition scheme was combined with a KWIC-filter technique to reconstruct images at subsequent points in time along signal recovery, thereby achieving a higher temporal resolution compared to a cartesian measurement. The improved SNR and higher temporal resolution was used to calculate T1 maps at an increased spatial resolution.