Whole Brain Multiparametric Mapping in Two Minutes Using a Dual-Flip-Angle Stack-of-Stars Blipped Multi-Gradient-Echo Acquisition

Motivation: Multiparametric MRI of the brain can be used to improve the assessment of neurological diseases. However, the long scan time hinders its clinical applications. Goal(s): This study aims to develop a technique for fast whole brain multiparametric mapping. Approach: A dual-flip-angle stack-of-stars (SOS) blipped multi-gradient-echo sequence was developed to accelerate the acquisition. A novel joint-sparsity-constrained multicomponent T2*-T1 spectrum estimation algorithm was proposed to improve the quantification of myelin water fraction (MWF). Results: The in vivo experiments have demonstrated good agreement between results of accelerated SOS and the reference, as well as good repeatability between two repeated accelerated SOS scans. Impact: Our technique can provide robust whole brain multiparametric mapping of MWF, T1, proton density (PD), R2*, magnetic susceptibility (QSM), and B1 transmit field (B1+) with a two-minute scan, which has a great potential for neurological applications, such as multiple sclerosis.