Single-shot Pseudo-Centric EPI for Magnetization-Prepared Imaging

Abstract

Single-shot EPI is a famous ultra-fast MR imaging technique, but is limited to linear reordering due to its special k-space trajectory. In this study, we proposed a single-shot pseudo-centric EPI where k-space is encoded from center to periphery in a groupwise manner by utilizing grouped oscillating readout gradients, phase‑encoding blips within each group, and big phase‑encoding jumps between two consecutive groups. The concept was tested on phantoms and human brains in 3T and 7T. The proposed method enabled the significant reduction of TE, which is expected to maximize SNR of magnetization-prepared imaging and enable ultrashort-TE imaging in the Cartesian coordinate.