title: Utilization of a balanced steady state free precession signal model for improved fat/water decomposition.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Chemical shift based fat/water decomposition methods such as IDEAL are frequently used in challenging imaging environments with large B0 inhomogeneity. However, they do not account for the signal modulations introduced by a balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP) acquisition. Here we demonstrate improved performance when the bSSFP frequency response is properly incorporated into the multipeak spectral fat model used in the decomposition process.
  
  
  METHODS
  Balanced SSFP allows for rapid imaging but also introduces a characteristic frequency response featuring periodic nulls and pass bands. Fat spectral components in adjacent pass bands will experience bulk phase offsets and magnitude modulations that change the expected constructive and destructive interference between the fat spectral components. A bSSFP signal model was incorporated into the fat/water decomposition process and used to generate images of a fat phantom, and bilateral breast and knee images in four normal volunteers at 1.5 Tesla.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Incorporation of the bSSFP signal model into the decomposition process improved the performance of the fat/water decomposition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Incorporation of this model allows rapid bSSFP imaging sequences to use robust fat/water decomposition methods such as IDEAL. While only one set of imaging parameters were presented, the method is compatible with any field strength or repetition time.
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Physics, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Leah C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Henze Bancroft
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Physics, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public health, Department of Radiology, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Roberta M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Strigel
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hernando
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Physics, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public health, Department of Radiology, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kelcz
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public health, Department of Radiology, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kijowski
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Medical Physics, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Radiology, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.|University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Madison, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Walter F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Block
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000465:Algorithms; D001940:Breast / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: IDEAL; balanced steady state free precession; fat-water imaging