Rapid whole-brain gray matter imaging using single-slab three-dimensional dual-echo fast spin echo: A feasibility study

Purpose: To achieve rapid, high resolution whole-brain gray matter (GM) imaging by developing a novel, single-slab three-dimensional dual-echo fast-spin-echo pulse sequence and GM-selective reconstruction. Methods: Unlike conventional GM imaging that uses time-consuming double-inversion-recovery preparation, the proposed pulse sequence was designed to have two split portions along the echo train, in which the first half was dedicated to yield short inversion recovery (IR)-induced white matter suppression and variable-flip-angle-induced two-step GM signal evolution while the second half cerebrospinal fluid-only signals. Multi-step variable-flip-angle schedules and sampling reordering were optimized to yield high GM signals while balancing cerebrospinal fluid signals between ECHOes. GM-selective images were then reconstructed directly from the weighted subtraction between ECHOes by solving a sparse signal recovery problem. In vivo studies were performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method over conventional double-inversion-recovery. Results: The proposed method, while achieving one millimeter isotropic, whole-brain GM imaging within 5.5 min, showed superior performance than conventional double-inversion-recovery in producing GM-only images without apparent artifacts and noise. Conclusion: We successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed method in achieving whole-brain GM imaging in a clinically acceptable imaging time. The proposed method is expected to be a promising alternative to conventional double-inversion-recovery in clinical applications. Magn Reson Med 78:1691–1699, 2017.