Thomas William Okell1,2, Michael Chappell1,
Matthias Gnther3,4, Peter Jezzard1
1FMRIB Centre, Clinical Neurology,
University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 2Department
of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS
Trust, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 3Faculty for Physics
and Electrical Engineering, University Bremen, Bremen, Germany; 4Fraunhofer
MEVIS-Institute for Medical Image Computing, Bremen, Germany
In
this study we compare echo planar imaging (EPI) and 3D-GRadient and Spin Echo
(3D-GRASE) readouts with a vessel encoded arterial spin labelling
preparation. Comparable vascular
territory maps were obtained in both cases.
The 3D-GRASE images had twice the signal-to-noise ratio and reduced
signal drop-out but suffered from some blurring in the slice direction
despite the use of parallel acceleration in one dimension. We conclude that 3D-GRASE is a viable
option for vascular territory imaging but would be improved by reduced
blurring which could be achieved by using parallel acceleration in two dimensions,
for example.