title: Diffusion-weighted imaging of the brain at 7 T with echo-planar and turbo spin echo sequences: preliminary results.
abstract: Ultra-high-field clinical MRI scanners (e.g., 7 T and above) are becoming increasingly prevalent and can potentially enhance diagnostic ability through higher contrast, resolution and/or sensitivity. Diffusion-weighted MRI is a highly valued component in today's radiological exam and may benefit from the enhanced signal-to-noise ratio provided by high field with the appropriate imaging strategy. The most common diffusion pulse sequence readout (echo-planar imaging (EPI)) has been widely employed for in vivo human 7 T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). In this article, we present results of brain DTI at 7 T with two diffusion-weighted imaging pulse sequence readouts: echo-planar imaging (EPI-DTI) and turbo spin echo (TSE-DTI). Results indicate that analogous coverage, quality and resolution typical of lower field (2 mm) can be obtained by properly processed EPI-DTI at 7 T, and, with some reduction in efficiency and sharpness, TSE-DTI at 7 T. Furthermore, 7 T TSE-DTI shows promise in obtaining higher-resolution results in targeted acquisitions of specific brain areas.
authors.affiliation: Langone Medical Center, Department of Radiology, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA. eric.sigmund@nyumc.org
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Sigmund
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gutman
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods