Abstract #3932

Comparison of Two Alternative Approaches for Diffusion-Weighted Readout-Segmented (RS)-EPI

Samantha J. Holdsworth¹, Stefan Skare², Murat Aksoy¹, Rafael O'Halloran¹, Roland Bammer¹

¹Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States; ²Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Two approaches for Readout-Segmented (RS)-EPI have purported to increase the SNR for DWI. One fills k-space with full readout segments (RS-EPI-X), and the other which minimizes the TE with partial readout segments (RS-EPI-Y). Here we explore the scan efficiency of RS-EPI-Y and RS-EPI-X. Human brain data show that SNR efficiency is about equivalent, except for the case of a higher matrix size combined with twice-refocused DW preparation whereby RS-EPI-Y has 1.6 times better scan efficiency than RS-EPI-X.