Chimera Steady State Free Precession (Chimera SSFP)

A new type of steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence is introduced, termed chimera SSFP. The sequence consists of two alternating SSFP kernels (heads): odd TR-intervals feature a balanced SSFP (bSSFP) type of protocol, whereas even TR-intervals undergo gradient dephasing (unbalanced SSFP) and hence the name. Chimera SSFP features a peculiar frequency response profile with respect to the bSSFP interval of triangular shape. Potential applications of this new type of SSFP sequence are, among others, functional MRI (fMRI) and temperature mapping