Single-shot curved slice imaging

The feasibility of imaging a curved slice with a single-shot technique so that the reconstructed image shows an un-warping of the slice is examined. This could be of practical importance when the anatomical structures of interest can be more efficiently covered with curved slices than with a series of flat planes. One possible example of such a structure is the cortex of the human brain. Functional imaging would especially benefit from this technique because several planar images can be replaced by a few curved slice images. A method is introduced that is based on multidimensional pulses to excite the desired curved slice profile. A GRASE imaging sequence is then applied that is tailored to the k-space representation of the curved slice. This makes it possible to capture the in-plane information of the slice with a single-shot technique. The method presented is limited to slices that are straight along one axis and can be approximated by a polygon. Reconstruction is performed using a simple numeric Fourier integration along the curved slice. This leads to an image that shows the desired un-warped representation of the slice. Experimental results obtained with this method from healthy volunteers are presented and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technique.