3D high resolution, distortion-free, reduced field of view diffusion-prepared MRI at 3T

Motivation: High resolution distortion-free diffusion-prepared imaging (DiffPrep) is desirable for high-precision radiotherapy or surgical planning. Goal(s): To demonstrate 3D high resolution distortion-free DiffPrep using a reduced field of view (RFOV) approach and gradient echo (GRE) readout. Approach: A DiffPrep sequence was developed with magnitude stabilisers, RFOV excitation, fat suppression, 3D-GRE readout and 2D phase-correction navigator. The proposed approach using selective excitation of the tip-down pulse was compared against non-selective excitation at 3T in a phantom and in the spinal cord of a healthy volunteer. Results: Preliminary results presented in a phantom and in-vivo demonstrate successful outer volume signal suppression using the reduced FOV approach. Impact: The sequence introduced in this work enables 3D RFOV distortion-free DiffPrep with a GRE readout. This sequence could be advantageous for applications requiring accurate target delineation, such as radiotherapy planning or surgical planning.