Abstract #0366

3D Balanced SSFP Dixon Imaging with Band-Reduction at 3T

Brady Quist¹,², Brian A. Hargreaves¹, Bruce L. Daniel¹, Manojkumar Saranathan¹

¹Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ²Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) can offer fast 3D imaging with T₂-like contrast, and multiple acquisitions can be used to avoid banding artifacts due to static magnetic field variations. Simulations of multi-peak fat models show that the bSSFP profile of fat varies with echo and repetition time, which can complicate Dixon separation methods, particularly in combination with phase-cycling. The effect is demonstrated, and robust fat/water separation with banding reduction was demonstrated in the breast at 3T by performing the Dixon reconstruction on the complex sum of two 3D phase-cycled images.