title: MR imaging technology: maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio from a single tissue.
abstract: The pulse-sequence equations for spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine interpulse delay times that give the highest signal-to-noise ratio from a single tissue. This theoretical result was then verified experimentally using 1-, 2-, and 5-mM/l copper sulfate solutions imaged on a 0.15-T resistive system. Theoretical analysis determined the spin-echo interpulse delay times that maximize the signal-to-noise ratio from a single tissue as TEopt = TEmin, the minimum echo delay time permitted by the system, and, to a good approximation, TRopt = 1.27 T1 + 1.90 TEmin, with T1 the longitudinal magnetic relaxation time of the tissue. Phantom measurements of the signal-to-noise ratio in a typical imaging system confirmed the theoretically determined TRopt values to within 7%.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science