MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
J Magn Reson Imaging. 2012 Jan;35(1):204-10. doi: 10.1002/jmri.22639. Epub 2011 Oct 14.
To demonstrate the technical feasibility of high-resolution (0.28-0.14 mm) ultrashort echo time (UTE) imaging on human knee at 3T with the acquisition-weighted stack of spirals (AWSOS) sequence.
Nine human subjects were scanned on a 3T MRI scanner with an 8-channel knee coil using the AWSOS sequence and isocenter positioning plus manual shimming.
High-resolution UTE images were obtained on the subject knees at TE = 0.6 msec with total acquisition time of 5.12 minutes for 60 slices at an in-plane resolution of 0.28 mm and 10.24 minutes for 40 slices at an in-plane resolution of 0.14 mm. Isocenter positioning, manual shimming, and the 8-channel array coil helped minimize image distortion and achieve high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
It is technically feasible on a clinical 3T MRI scanner to perform UTE imaging on human knee at very high spatial resolutions (0.28-0.14 mm) within reasonable scan time (5-10 min) using the AWSOS sequence.
展示在 3T 磁共振成像仪上使用采集加权螺旋（AWSOS）序列对人膝关节进行高分辨率（0.28-0.14mm）超短回波时间（UTE）成像的技术可行性。
9 名受试者在 3T 磁共振成像仪上使用 8 通道膝关节线圈，采用 AWSOS 序列和等中心定位加手动匀场进行扫描。
在 0.6ms 的 TE 下，在受试者膝关节上获得了高分辨率的 UTE 图像，总采集时间为 5.12 分钟，可获得 60 层，层厚为 0.28mm，10.24 分钟可获得 40 层，层厚为 0.14mm。等中心定位、手动匀场和 8 通道阵列线圈有助于最大限度地减少图像失真，实现高信噪比（SNR）。
在临床 3T 磁共振成像仪上，使用 AWSOS 序列在合理的扫描时间（5-10 分钟）内对人膝关节进行非常高的空间分辨率（0.28-0.14mm）的 UTE 成像在技术上是可行的。
