Original Research

3D diffusion tensor MRI with isotropic resolution using a steady-state radial acquisition

  1. Youngkyoo Jung PhD1,
  2. Alexey A. Samsonov PhD2,3,
  3. Walter F. Block PhD2,3,4,
  4. Mariana Lazar PhD5,
  5. Aiming Lu PhD6,
  6. Jing Liu PhD7,
  7. Andrew L. Alexander PhD2,8,*

Article first published online: 22 APR 2009

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21663

Issue

Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Volume 29, Issue 5, pages 1175–1184, May 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Jung, Y., Samsonov, A. A., Block, W. F., Lazar, M., Lu, A., Liu, J. and Alexander, A. L. (2009), 3D diffusion tensor MRI with isotropic resolution using a steady-state radial acquisition. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging, 29: 1175–1184. doi: 10.1002/jmri.21663

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, California

  2. 2

    Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

  3. 3

    Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

  4. 4

    Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

  5. 5

    New York University Medical Center, New York University, New York, New York

  6. 6

    Center for MRI research, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

  7. 7

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

  8. 8

    Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

*Waisman Center, UW-Madison, 1500 Highland Ave., Rm. T135, Madison, WI 53705

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 22 APR 2009
  2. Article first published online: 22 APR 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 7 OCT 2008
  4. Manuscript Received: 16 JAN 2008

Funded by

  • National Institutes of Health. Grant Numbers: R01 MH062015, R01 CA116380-01

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Keywords:

  • diffusion tensor imaging;
  • 3D imaging;
  • steady state;
  • radial acquisition

Abstract

Purpose

To obtain diffusion tensor images (DTI) over a large image volume rapidly with 3D isotropic spatial resolution, minimal spatial distortions, and reduced motion artifacts, a diffusion-weighted steady-state 3D projection (SS 3DPR) pulse sequence was developed.

Materials and Methods

A diffusion gradient was inserted in a SS 3DPR pulse sequence. The acquisition was synchronized to the cardiac cycle, linear phase errors were corrected along the readout direction, and each projection was weighted by measures of consistency with other data. A new iterative parallel imaging reconstruction method was also implemented for removing off-resonance and undersampling artifacts simultaneously.

Results

The contrast and appearance of both the fractional anisotropy and eigenvector color maps were substantially improved after all correction techniques were applied. True 3D DTI datasets were obtained in vivo over the whole brain (240 mm field of view in all directions) with 1.87 mm isotropic spatial resolution, six diffusion encoding directions in under 19 minutes.

Conclusion

A true 3D DTI pulse sequence with high isotropic spatial resolution was developed for whole brain imaging in under 20 minutes. To minimize the effects of brain motion, a cardiac synchronized, multiecho, DW-SSFP pulse sequence was implemented. Motion artifacts were further reduced by a combination of linear phase correction, corrupt projection detection and rejection, sampling density reweighting, and parallel imaging reconstruction. The combination of these methods greatly improved the quality of 3D DTI in the brain. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:1175–1184. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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