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FIG 2. Examples of different types of SPLICE images from the head of a 36-year-old healthy volunteer. Each image, with a 12-mm thickness, was recorded in less than 1 s. The FOV was 210 x 420 mm with a matrix of 96 x 256. A and C were recorded without diffusion gradients, whereas diffusion sensitizing with b = 1000 s/mm2 (maximum amplitude 13.8 mT/m, from 8.0 mT/m in all three orientations simultaneously) was applied for the images in B and D. The timing scheme in the spin-echo preparation remained unchanged for all images. The images recorded with half-Fourier acquisition (A, B) show less blurring artifacts, whereas the SNR is superior in images recorded with centric reordering (C, D). The displayed images are magnified and do not show the entire matrix in read direction.
A, Half-Fourier recording as shown in figure 1B; 55 phase-encoding steps; TE = 155; no diffusion preparation. SNR of brain is 5.5.
B, Half-Fourier technique, with diffusion preparation. SNR of brain is 2.0.
C, Centric reordering as shown in figure 1C; 96 phase-encoding steps; TE = 148; no diffusion preparation. SNR of brain is 7.3.
D, Centric reordering, with diffusion preparation. SNR of brain is 2.3.
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