T1-weighted turbo-spin-echo mri sequence for producing high quality dark blood images at high heart rates

Abstract

A T1-weighted turbo-spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging system configured to capture data associated with a subject's heart during a time period and produce MR images has a dark-blood preparation module, a data capture module, and an image reconstruction module. The dark-blood preparation module performs dark-blood preparation through double inversion during some, but not all of the heartbeats within the time period. The data capture module configured performs data readouts to capture imaging data of an imaging slice during every heartbeat in which dark-blood preparation is performed. The data capture module also performs a steady state maintenance step during every heartbeat in which dark-blood preparation is not performed in order to maintain maximum T1-weighting. The image reconstruction module configured to reconstruct a T1-weighted image based on the imaging data.