Advanced

AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wolansky, L. J. Articles by Contractor, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wolansky, L. J. Articles by Contractor, S.

American Journal of Neuroradiology 20:1653-1657 (10 1999)
© 1999 American Society of Neuroradiology

ARTICLE

Optimization of Gray/White Matter Contrast with Fast Inversion Recovery for Myelin Suppression: A Comparison of Fast Spin-Echo and Echo-Planar MR Imaging Sequences

Leo J. Wolansky^,a, Steven G. Finden^a, Janet Chen^a, Rafik Hanna^a, Andrei I. Holodny^a, Imtiaz Ahmad^a, Wen Ching Liu^a and Sohail Contractor^a

^a From the Department of Radiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).

Summary: We compared two MR imaging sequences, fast inversion recovery for myelin suppression (FIRMS) and echo-planar FIRMS (EP-FIRMS), for depicting gray/white matter contrast. In 18 patients, the frequency bandwidth (BW) was optimized for each sequence; in nine patients, the BW was held constant. In the BW-optimized group, the mean contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N) was three times higher with the FIRMS sequence. In the BW-constant group, the mean C/N was 27% higher with the EP-FIRMS sequence; however, geometric distortion degraded the EP-FIRMS images excessively. For optimal gray/white contrast, FIRMS appears to be the superior pulse sequence.