[A new multislice gradient echo sequence for magnetic resonance tomography of the liver]

A multislice gradient echo sequence was developed for screening the liver and examined in studies on probands. This sequence is characterized by pronounced T1-weighting and low susceptibility to artifacts as well as a good contrast-to-noise ratio. Examination of the probands yielded suitable parameters for the repetition time, the delay echo, the excitation pulse angle and the number of data acquisitions. The optimized sequence yields, at a repetition time of 306 msec and an echo delay of 12 msec, 18 adjacent slices. With these measurement parameters an excitation pulse angle of 90 degrees was found to be adequate. Four data acquisitions (5.4 minutes measurement time) resulted in an effective reduction of motion artifacts. Compared with the T1-weighted spin echo sequences, the entire liver can be measured in half the time when using the multislice gradient echo sequence.