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Fast flair imaging of the brain using the fast spin-echo and gradient spin-echo technique
K Hittmair1, W Umek, E G Schindler
1Department of Neuroradiology, University of Vienna, Austria.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
|January 1, 1997
Summary
Gradient spin-echo (GRASE) offers faster brain MRI scans but results in lower lesion visibility and more artifacts compared to fast spin-echo (FSE) FLAIR sequences.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Fast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences are crucial for detecting brain lesions.
- Gradient spin-echo (GRASE) and fast spin-echo (FSE) are techniques used to accelerate MRI acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the performance of GRASE and FSE implementations of fast FLAIR sequences for brain imaging.
- To evaluate lesion conspicuity, tissue contrast, image quality, and artifacts between the two techniques.
Main Methods:
- Thirty patients with T2-weighted high signal intensity lesions were scanned using 1.5 T MR.
- Thin-section FLAIR-FSE and FLAIR-GRASE sequences were acquired with minimized scan times.
- Image assessment included lesion conspicuity, contrast ratios, contrast-to-noise ratios, and artifact evaluation.
Main Results:
- FLAIR-GRASE achieved a 17% reduction in scan time compared to FLAIR-FSE.
- Lesion conspicuity was significantly lower on FLAIR-GRASE due to increased noise and artifacts.
- Gray-white matter differentiation was slightly reduced, and susceptibility artifacts were stronger with FLAIR-GRASE.
Conclusions:
- GRASE is not a suitable alternative to FSE for routine clinical MR brain imaging with current hardware.
- The trade-off between speed and image quality favors FSE for fast FLAIR sequences in brain imaging.