Bipolar TSE & Bipolar 3D GRASE for Rapid Multi-Slice (Multi-Slab) High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Acquisition of Carotid Artery Wall

Linqing Li^1,2, Peter Jezzard^1,2

Flow-crushing bipolar gradient pairs are introduced into 2D TSE and 3D GRASE pulse sequences for black blood imaging multi-slice 2D or multi-slab 3D acquisition, termed as Bipolar 2D TSE and Bipolar 3D GRASE. Non-selective hard pulses used in conventional black blood modules are not required in these new imaging pulse sequences. Preliminary results indicate that the final average imaging speed has been increased dramatically up to 5 sec/slice or even faster (at least 2 or 3 times faster than conventional methods) with acceptable black blood imaging quality and comparable SNR.