Single-shot-double-echo EPI

Echo planar imaging (EPI) was extended for the acquisition of both, the spin-echo (SE) and the stimulated echo in a stimulated echo sequence after one excitation from thermal equilibrium. The two independent EPI images reflect different states of the transverse magnetization excited and measured almost simultaneously. This single-shot-double-echo EPI approach offers a variety of useful applications such as varying image contrast, obtaining flow or diffusion information, improving image resolution or circumventing T*2 requirements in single shot EPI. Benefits and limits of this technique are discussed.