Fast 3D steady state inhomogeneous magnetization transfer imaging with Segmented Spoiled Gradient Echo - Echo Planar Imaging.

Inhomogeneous magnetization transfer is a promising technique to provide high sensitivity and specificity of detecting myelinated content in tissue. 3D steady-state ihMT imaging with 3D segmented Spoiled Gradient Echo (SPGR) sequence can provide myelin information of the whole brain within 5-10min of acquisition time. In this work, we demonstrate 3D steady-state ihMT imaging with a 3D segmented Spoiled Gradient Echo - Echo Planar Imaging (SPGR-EPI) sequence instead of 3D segmented SPGR to reduce acquisition time. We successfully reduced approximately 30% of the acquisition time for 3D steady-state ihMT imaging by applying 3D Segmented SPGR-EPI compared to 3D segmented SPGR.