SPRITE MRI with prepared magnetization and centric k-space sampling.

A technique for imaging materials with short transverse relaxation times and prepared longitudinal magnetization is proposed. The technique is single-point ramped imaging with T1-enhancement (SPRITE) MRI with centric k-space sampling. The effects of transient state behavior on image resolution and signal/noise are estimated. Centric sampling in the basic SPRITE sequence gives increased signal-to-noise and permits a quantitative determination of the MR parameters associated with longitudinal spin preparation. Spin-lock and inversion recovery preparation experiments are presented. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.