Fast Sodium Imaging at 9.4 Tesla

Fast imaging sequences are commonly used for proton imaging because of their high acquisition efficiency. In this work three spiral imaging sequences which used either RF spoiling, gradient spoiling or balanced gradients were adapted for sodium imaging at 9.4 T and compared to one another based on achieved image quality and SNR. Balanced steady-state free precession imaging provided the highest SNR while producing only negligible image artefacts. Due to the efficient acquisition with a sensitive 27-channel receiver array images with a nominal spatial resolution of 1.5x1.5x4.0 mm3 and an acceptable SNR could be acquired in 10 min