The RARE-based diffusion-weighted MRI sequence, SPLICE, provides diffusion-weighted images free of geometric distortions. However, the image quality in terms of spatial resolution and SNR needs to be improved. We suggest a framework based on optimization of the flip-angles in the refocusing pulse train to improve the SNR for a chosen spatial point-spread-function. Simulations based on EPG calculations indicate superiority of the optimized flip-angle scheme and experimental recordings on a 1.5 T scanner demonstrate the improvements in a practical setting.
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