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An in vivo comparison of the DREAM sequence with current RF shim technology

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Abstract

Object

In the present study the performance of the dual refocusing echo acquisition mode (DREAM) B1 + mapping sequence is evaluated for RF shimming in the abdomen at 3 T and validated against existing RF shim technology.

Materials and methods

In vivo experiments were performed on 19 normal volunteers using a clinical 3 T dual channel MRI system. For each volunteer three different B1 + mapping techniques [DREAM, actual flip angle imaging (AFI) and saturated double angle method (SDAM)] were employed for RF shimming of the liver and to subsequently assess the quality of the obtained RF shim settings in terms of the achieved B1 + homogeneity and accuracy of the mean B1 +.

Results

DREAM-based B1 + calibration led to an average homogeneity improvement of 39.1 % (AFI = 38.7 %, SDAM = 38.1 %) and a mean B1 + of 90.9 % of the prescribed B1 + (AFI = 88.9 %, SDAM = 92.0 %). The duration of the B1 + calibration scan was reduced from 30 s (AFI) and 15 s (SDAM) to 2.5 s (DREAM).

Conclusion

DREAM accelerates RF shimming of the liver by an order of magnitude without compromising RF shimming performance.

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Conflict of interest

Two of the authors, Peter Börnert and Kay Nehrke, are employees of Philips Research. The authors declare that they have no other conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philips Research Laboratories, Röntgenstraße 24-26, 22335, Hamburg, Germany

    Kay Nehrke & Peter Börnert

  2. Department of Radiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Alois M. Sprinkart

  3. Institute of Medical Engineering, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Alois M. Sprinkart

  4. Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Peter Börnert

Authors
  1. Kay Nehrke
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  2. Alois M. Sprinkart
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  3. Peter Börnert
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Correspondence to Kay Nehrke.

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Nehrke, K., Sprinkart, A.M. & Börnert, P. An in vivo comparison of the DREAM sequence with current RF shim technology. Magn Reson Mater Phy 28, 185–194 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-014-0454-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-014-0454-3

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