[Slice profile measurements of half pulse excitation for MR-imaging with ultra-short echo times (UTE)]

Half pulse excitation plays an important role in imaging with ultra-short echo times (UTE imaging) of the order of TE < 100 micros. Based on half RF-pulses this method was theoretically modeled and experimentally applied in 1991 for the first time. Following this work, measurements of slice profiles produced by half pulses were performed and results were compared to the slice profiles produced by the original full pulse. Furthermore, the hypothesis was tested that short RF pulses may be of advantage in minimizing the relaxation effects during the pulse. Within the scope of these measurements no dependency of slice profile on the pulse duration could be found.