Spin echoes in the regime of weak dephasing

This article analyzes possibilities and limits of spin echoes beyond Hahn's theory. The regime of weak dephasing is explored with the purpose of combining the enhanced signal and reduced artifacts of spin echoes with the speed and flexibility of the fast low angle shot sequence.

In the regime of weak dephasing, an upper boundary of the echo time is derived analytically. This limit is verified with optimal control pulses, which are also used to heuristically examine the transition to Hahn's regime of complete dephasing. The potential of the proposed pulses is demonstrated in proof-of-concept spin echo fast low angle shot images of a volunteer's lung and head.

It was found that the time between the end of the pulse and the spin echo can exceed the duration of the composite radio frequency-pulse, which stands in contrast to Hahn echoes where those measures are at most equal. The maximum echo time was found to mainly depend on the total amount of dephasing. In vivo spin echo fast low angle shot images show an increased pulmonary signal as well as reduced artifacts in areas affected by susceptibility differences.

The spin dynamics in the regime of weak dephasing was investigated and the feasibility of spin echo fast low angle shot imaging was demonstrated in vivo.