Time-Efficient Fast Spin Echo Imaging at 4.7 T with Low Refocusing Angles

An implementation of fast spin echo at 4.7 T designed for versatile and time-efficient T(2)-weighted imaging of the human brain is presented. Reduced refocusing angles (alpha < 180 degrees) were employed to overcome specific absorption rate (SAR) constraints and their effects on image quality assessed. Image intensity and tissue contrast variations from heterogeneous RF transmit fields and incidental magnetization transfer effects were investigated at reduced refocusing angles. We found that intraslice signal variations are minimized with refocusing angles near 180 degrees, but apparent gray/white matter contrast is independent of refocusing angle. Incidental magnetization transfer effects from multislice acquisitions were shown to attenuate white matter intensity by 25% and gray matter intensity by 15% at 180 degrees; less than 5% attenuation was seen in all tissues at flip angles below 60 degrees. We present multislice images acquired without excess delay time for SAR mitigation using a variety of protocols. Subsecond half Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo (HASTE) images were obtained with a novel variable refocusing angle echo train (20 degrees < alpha < 58 degrees) and high-resolution scans with a voxel volume of 0.18 mm(3) were acquired in 6.5 min with refocusing angles of 100 degrees. Magn Reson Med 62:96-105,2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.