Three-dimensional high-isotropic-resolution MR fingerprinting optimized for 0.55 T.

Abstract

Purpose: To provide a fast quantitative imaging approach for a 0.55T scanner, where signal-to-noise ratio is limited by the field strength and k-space sampling speed is limited by a lower specification gradient system.

Methods: We adapted the three-dimensional spiral projection imaging MR fingerprinting approach to 0.55T scanners, with additional features incorporated to improve the image quality of quantitative brain and musculoskeletal imaging, including (i) improved k-space sampling efficiency, (ii) Cramér-Rao lower bound optimized flip-angle pattern for specified T₁ and T₂ at 0.55 T, (iii) gradient trajectory correction, (iv) attention-based denoising, and (v) motion estimation and correction.

Results: The proposed MRF acquisition and reconstruction framework can provide high-quality 1.2-mm isotropic whole-brain quantitative maps and 1-mm isotropic knee quantitative maps, each acquired in 4.5 min. The proposed method was validated in both phantom and in vivo brain and knee studies.

Conclusion: By proposing novel methods and integrating advanced techniques, we achieved high-isotropic-resolution MRF on a 0.55T scanner, demonstrating enhanced efficiency, motion resilience, and quantitative accuracy.