High signal-to-noise FLASH imaging at 8 Tesla

Magn Reson Imaging. 1999 Oct;17(8):1099-103. doi: 10.1016/s0730-725x(99)00072-7.

Abstract

A radio frequency (RF) and gradient spoiled fast low angle shot technique was used to acquire images from the human brain at 8 Tesla. The resulting FLASH images, obtained with a 17 degrees nutation, a 70 ms repetition time, and a 17 ms echo time, displayed an average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 220:1 (slice thickness 2.2 mm, field-of-view 24 cm, matrix 256 x 128). These images were compared with images obtained at 1.5 Tesla using identical parameters yielding a signal-to-noise of less than 10:1. As such, the 8 Tesla images display a remarkable improvement in SNR with increasing field strength. The images also show little evidence of susceptibility distortion, chemical shift, or RF penetration limitations.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Brain / anatomy & histology*
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Reference Values