Further accelerating spin-echo EPI through combined patterned multislice excitation and SMS acquisition

Motivation: Both the recently introduced patterned multislice excitation (PME) technique and SMS acquisition can be used for faster imaging. Combining these would reduce imaging times further. Goal(s): To demonstrate that the PME is compatible with SMS imaging. Approach: Four RF pulses were combined to achieve acceleration from both SMS and PME. To limit peak RF amplitude, pulse components were time-shifted. The approach was demonstrated using diffusion weighted (DW) imaging at 3T. Results: Close to fourfold acceleration was successfully implemented by combining twofold SMS and PME and evaluated for DW MRI performance versus twofold acceleration based on PME only. Impact: Recently introduced PME approach and SMS can be combined to accelerate the acquisition.