Optimizing MR Scan Design for Model-Based ${T}_{1}$ , ${T}_{2}$ Estimation From Steady-State Sequences

Rapid, reliable quantification of MR relaxation parameters T₁ and T₂ is desirable for many clinical applications. Steady-state sequences such as Spoiled Gradient-Recalled Echo (SPGR) and Dual-Echo Steady-State (DESS) are fast and well-suited for relaxometry because the signals they produce are quite sensitive to T₁ and T₂ variation. However, T₁, T₂ estimation with these sequences typically requires multiple scans with varied sets of acquisition parameters. This paper describes a systematic framework for selecting scan types (e.g., combinations of SPGR and DESS scans) and optimizing their respective parameters (e.g., flip angles and repetition times). The method is based on a Cramér-Rao Bound (CRB)-inspired min-max optimization that finds scan parameter combinations that robustly enable precise object parameter estimation. We apply this technique to optimize combinations of SPGR and DESS scans for T₁, T₂ relaxometry in white matter (WM) and grey matter (GM) regions of the human brain at 3T field strength. Phantom accuracy experiments show that SPGR/DESS scan combinations are in excellent agreement with reference measurements. Phantom precision experiments show that trends in T₁,T₂ pooled sample standard deviations reflect CRB-based predictions. In vivo experiments show that in WM and GM, T₁ and T₂ estimates from a pair of optimized DESS scans exhibit precision (but not necessarily accuracy) comparable to that of optimized combinations of SPGR and DESS scans. To our knowledge, T₁ maps from DESS acquisitions alone are new. This example application illustrates that scan optimization may help reveal new parameter mapping techniques from combinations of established pulse sequences.