title: Slice accelerated gradient-echo spin-echo dynamic susceptibility contrast imaging with blipped CAIPI for increased slice coverage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To improve slice coverage of gradient echo spin echo (GESE) sequences for dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI using a simultaneous-multiple-slice (SMS) method.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were acquired on 3 Tesla (T) MR scanners with a 32-channel head coil. To evaluate use of SMS for DSC, an SMS GESE sequence with two-fold slice coverage and same temporal sampling was compared with a standard GESE sequence, both with 2× in-plane acceleration. A signal to noise ratio (SNR) comparison was performed on one healthy subject. Additionally, data with Gadolinium injection were collected on three patients with glioblastoma using both sequences, and perfusion analysis was performed on healthy tissues as well as on tumor.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Retained SNR of SMS DSC is 90% for a gradient echo (GE) and 99% for a spin echo (SE) acquisition, compared with a standard acquisition without slice acceleration. Comparing cerebral blood volume maps, it was observed that the results of standard and SMS acquisitions are comparable for both GE and SE images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two-fold slice accelerated DSC MRI achieves similar SNR and perfusion metrics as a standard acquisition, while allowing a significant increase in slice coverage of the brain. The results also point to a possibility to improve temporal sampling rate, while retaining the same slice coverage.
authors.affiliation: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eichner
authors.forename: Kourosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jafari-Khouzani
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cauley
authors.forename: Himanshu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: Pavlina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Polaskova
authors.forename: Ovidiu C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Andronesi
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rapalino
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Lawrence L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wald
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stufflebeam
authors.forename: Kawin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Setsompop
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003287:Contrast Media; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: CAIPIRINHA; DSC; GESE; SMS; blipped CAIPI; brain tumor