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Matsuda T, Iwadate Y, Mori F, Takeda K, Sasaki M. Using Phase Difference Information to Detect Errors in the Flip Angle Measured with Actual Flip Angle Imaging at 7T. Magn Reson Med Sci 2024; 23:102-109. [PMID: 36450525 PMCID: PMC10838719 DOI: 10.2463/mrms.tn.2022-0053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Flip angle (FA) measurements using the actual flip angle imaging (AFI) method may induce significant errors in ultrahigh fields. We aimed to develop a method for detecting errors in FA measurements using phase information at 7 tesla. We performed computer simulations to elucidate the relationship between the FA calculation errors and the phase difference between the two AFI source images. We then examined whether a method based on the phase difference could detect FA calculation errors and determine the prescribed nominal FA of the scanner for accurate measurements in phantoms and healthy volunteers. The simulations confirmed that the calculated FA values erroneously decreased when the longitudinal magnetization and phase in one of the source images were inverted. Tests on phantoms and human subjects demonstrated that the phase difference information between the source images with a cut-off of 90° could readily detect FA calculation errors in the AFI method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsuyoshi Matsuda
- Division of Ultrahigh Field MRI, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Iwate Medical University, Shiwa-gun, Iwate, Japan
| | - Yuji Iwadate
- MR Applications and Workflow, GE Healthcare Japan Corporation, Hino, TokyoJapan
| | - Futoshi Mori
- Division of Ultrahigh Field MRI, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Iwate Medical University, Shiwa-gun, Iwate, Japan
| | - Kota Takeda
- Division of Ultrahigh Field MRI, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Iwate Medical University, Shiwa-gun, Iwate, Japan
| | - Makoto Sasaki
- Division of Ultrahigh Field MRI, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Iwate Medical University, Shiwa-gun, Iwate, Japan
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Dietrich S, Aigner CS, Kolbitsch C, Mayer J, Ludwig J, Schmidt S, Schaeffter T, Schmitter S. 3D Free-breathing multichannel absolute B 1 + Mapping in the human body at 7T. Magn Reson Med 2020; 85:2552-2567. [PMID: 33283915 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.28602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To introduce and investigate a method for free-breathing three-dimensional (3D) B 1 + mapping of the human body at ultrahigh field (UHF), which can be used to generate homogenous flip angle (FA) distributions in the human body at UHF. METHODS A 3D relative B 1 + mapping sequence with a radial phase-encoding (RPE) k-space trajectory was developed and applied in 11 healthy subjects at 7T. An RPE-based actual flip angle mapping method was applied with a dedicated B 1 + shim setting to calibrate the relative B 1 + maps yielding absolute B 1 + maps of the individual transmit channels. The method was evaluated in a motion phantom and by multidimensional in vivo measurements. Additionally, 3D gradient echo scans with and without static phase-only B 1 + shims were used to qualitatively validate B 1 + shim predictions. RESULTS The phantom validation revealed good agreement for B 1 + maps between dynamic measurement and static reference acquisition. The proposed 3D method was successfully validated in vivo by comparing magnitude and phase distributions with a 2D Cartesian reference. 3D B 1 + maps free from visible motion artifacts were successfully acquired for 11 subjects with body mass indexes ranging from 19 kg/m2 to 34 kg/m2 . 3D respiration-resolved absolute B 1 + maps indicated FA differences between inhalation and exhalation up to 15% for one channel and up to 24% for combined channels for shallow breathing. CONCLUSION The proposed method provides respiration-resolved absolute 3D B 1 + maps of the human body at UHF, which enables the investigation and development of 3D B 1 + shimming and parallel transmission methods to further enhance body imaging at UHF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Dietrich
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
| | - Christoph S Aigner
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
| | - Christoph Kolbitsch
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Mayer
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
| | - Juliane Ludwig
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
| | - Simon Schmidt
- Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tobias Schaeffter
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
- Department of Medical Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sebastian Schmitter
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany
- Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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Ma YJ, Zhao W, Wan L, Guo T, Searleman A, Jang H, Chang EY, Du J. Whole knee joint T 1 values measured in vivo at 3T by combined 3D ultrashort echo time cones actual flip angle and variable flip angle methods. Magn Reson Med 2019; 81:1634-1644. [PMID: 30443925 PMCID: PMC6347520 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.27510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2018] [Revised: 07/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To measure T1 relaxations for the major tissues in whole knee joints on a clinical 3T scanner. METHODS The 3D UTE-Cones actual flip angle imaging (AFI) method was used to map the transmission radiofrequency field (B1 ) in both short and long T2 tissues, which was then used to correct the 3D UTE-Cones variable flip angle (VFA) fitting to generate accurate T1 maps. Numerical simulation was carried out to investigate the accuracy of T1 measurement for a range of T2 values, excitation pulse durations, and B1 errors. Then, the 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VFA method was applied to healthy volunteers (N = 16) to quantify the T1 of knee tissues including cartilage, meniscus, quadriceps tendon, patellar tendon, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), marrow, and muscles at 3T. RESULTS Numerical simulation showed that the 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VFA technique can provide accurate T1 measurements (error <1%) when the tissue T2 is longer than 1 ms and a 150 μs excitation RF pulse is used and therefore is suitable for most knee joint tissues. The proposed 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VFA method showed an average T1 of 1098 ± 67 ms for cartilage, 833 ± 47 ms for meniscus, 800 ± 66 ms for quadriceps tendon, 656 ± 43 ms for patellar tendon, 873 ± 38 ms for ACL, 832 ± 49 ms for PCL, 379 ± 18 ms for marrow, and 1393 ± 46 ms for muscles. CONCLUSION The 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VFA method allows volumetric T1 measurement of the major tissues in whole knee joints on a clinical 3T scanner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Jun Ma
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Lidi Wan
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Tan Guo
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Adam Searleman
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Hyungseok Jang
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Eric Y Chang
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
- Radiology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
| | - Jiang Du
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
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Ma YJ, Lu X, Carl M, Zhu Y, Szeverenyi NM, Bydder GM, Chang EY, Du J. Accurate T 1 mapping of short T 2 tissues using a three-dimensional ultrashort echo time cones actual flip angle imaging-variable repetition time (3D UTE-Cones AFI-VTR) method. Magn Reson Med 2018; 80:598-608. [PMID: 29314235 PMCID: PMC5912804 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.27066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To develop an accurate T1 measurement method for short T2 tissues using a combination of a 3-dimensional ultrashort echo time cones actual flip angle imaging technique and a variable repetition time technique (3D UTE-Cones AFI-VTR) on a clinical 3T scanner. METHODS First, the longitudinal magnetization mapping function of the excitation pulse was obtained with the 3D UTE-Cones AFI method, which provided information about excitation efficiency and B1 inhomogeneity. Then, the derived mapping function was substituted into the VTR fitting to generate accurate T1 maps. Numerical simulation and phantom studies were carried out to compare the AFI-VTR method with a B1 -uncorrected VTR method, a B1 -uncorrected variable flip angle (VFA) method, and a B1 -corrected VFA method. Finally, the 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VTR method was applied to bovine bone samples (N = 6) and healthy volunteers (N = 3) to quantify the T1 of cortical bone. RESULTS Numerical simulation and phantom studies showed that the 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VTR technique provides more accurate measurement of the T1 of short T2 tissues than the B1 -uncorrected VTR and VFA methods or the B1 -corrected VFA method. The proposed 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VTR method showed a mean T1 of 240 ± 25 ms for bovine cortical bone and 218 ± 10 ms for the tibial midshaft of human volunteers, respectively, at 3 T. CONCLUSION The 3D UTE-Cones AFI-VTR method can provide accurate T1 measurements of short T2 tissues such as cortical bone. Magn Reson Med 80:598-608, 2018. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Jun Ma
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Xing Lu
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | | | - Yanchun Zhu
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | | | - Graeme M Bydder
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
| | - Eric Y Chang
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
- Radiology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
| | - Jiang Du
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA
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Boudreau M, Tardif CL, Stikov N, Sled JG, Lee W, Pike GB. B 1 mapping for bias-correction in quantitative T 1 imaging of the brain at 3T using standard pulse sequences. J Magn Reson Imaging 2017; 46:1673-1682. [PMID: 28301086 DOI: 10.1002/jmri.25692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2016] [Accepted: 02/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE B1 mapping is important for many quantitative imaging protocols, particularly those that include whole-brain T1 mapping using the variable flip angle (VFA) technique. However, B1 mapping sequences are not typically available on many magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. The aim of this work was to demonstrate that B1 mapping implemented using standard scanner product pulse sequences can produce B1 (and VFA T1 ) maps comparable in quality and acquisition time to advanced techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS Six healthy subjects were scanned at 3.0T. An interleaved multislice spin-echo echo planar imaging double-angle (EPI-DA) B1 mapping protocol, using a standard product pulse sequence, was compared to two alternative methods (actual flip angle imaging, AFI, and Bloch-Siegert shift, BS). Single-slice spin-echo DA B1 maps were used as a reference for comparison (Ref. DA). VFA flip angles were scaled using each B1 map prior to fitting T1 ; the nominal flip angle case was also compared. RESULTS The pooled-subject voxelwise correlation (ρ) for B1 maps (BS/AFI/EPI-DA) relative to the reference B1 scan (Ref. DA) were ρ = 0.92/0.95/0.98. VFA T1 correlations using these maps were ρ = 0.86/0.88/0.96, much better than without B1 correction (ρ = 0.53). The relative error for each B1 map (BS/AFI/EPI-DA/Nominal) had 95th percentiles of 5/4/3/13%. CONCLUSION Our findings show that B1 mapping implemented using product pulse sequences can provide excellent quality B1 (and VFA T1 ) maps, comparable to other custom techniques. This fast whole-brain measurement (∼2 min) can serve as an excellent alternative for researchers without access to advanced B1 pulse sequences. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1673-1682.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Boudreau
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Christine L Tardif
- Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
| | - Nikola Stikov
- Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Montreal Heart Institute, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - John G Sled
- Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Wayne Lee
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - G Bruce Pike
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Kobayashi N, Garwood M. B1 mapping of short T2 * spins using a 3D radial gradient echo sequence. Magn Reson Med 2013; 71:1689-99. [PMID: 23754634 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.24817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2013] [Revised: 04/28/2013] [Accepted: 04/29/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To develop a method to acquire a radiofrequency (B1 ) field map when the signal has a short T2 *. THEORY AND METHODS The method is based on the actual flip angle imaging (AFI) technique and a radial 3D gradient-echo sequence known as COncurrent Dephasing and Excitation (CODE), which preserves short T2 (*) signals. CODE was implemented with Gradient-modulated Offset-Independent Adiabaticity (GOIA) pulses to obtain high estimation sensitivity with AFI. The correlation method, which removes the quadratic phase from the frequency-modulated pulse excitation, was modified to handle gradient-modulated pulses. Validity of the modified correlation procedure was tested by Bloch simulations. CODE experiments with sinc, hyperbolic secant, and GOIA pulses were performed in order to see effects from the frequency and gradient modulation. Finally, GOIA-CODE AFI was conducted and compared with conventional AFI with 3D gradient echo (GRE). RESULTS The modified correlation method developed to accommodate frequency and gradient modulations of GOIA performed well as judged by the minimal impact on reconstructed image quality. GOIA-CODE AFI provided flip angle maps consistent with those measured by GRE AFI when the T2 * was long (>2 ms) and continued to perform well for short T2 * signals. CONCLUSION The proposed technique provides a means to obtain a 3D B1 field map when imaging spins with short T2 (*) .
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoharu Kobayashi
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Fleysher R, Fleysher L, Inglese M, Sodickson D. TROMBONE: T1-relaxation-oblivious mapping of transmit radio-frequency field (B1) for MRI at high magnetic fields. Magn Reson Med 2011; 66:483-91. [PMID: 21394765 PMCID: PMC3130840 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.22804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2010] [Revised: 10/24/2010] [Accepted: 12/10/2010] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Fast, 3D radio-frequency transmit field (B1) mapping is important for parallel transmission, spatially selective pulse design and quantitative MRI applications. It has been shown that actual flip angle imaging--two interleaved spoiled gradient recalled echo images acquired in steady state with two very short time delays (TR1, TR2)--is an attractive method of B1 mapping. Herein, we describe the TROMBONE method that efficiently integrates actual flip angle imaging with EPI imaging, alleviates very short TR requirement of actual flip angle imaging and through their synergy yields up to 16 times higher precision in B1 estimation in the same experimental time. High precision of TROMBONE can be traded for faster scans. The map of B1 reconstructed from the ratio of intensities of two images is insensitive to longitudinal relaxation time (T1) in the physiologically relevant range. A table of the optimal acquisition protocol parameters for various target experimental conditions is provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Fleysher
- Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA
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