High‐speed 3T MR spectroscopic imaging of prostate with flyback echo‐planar encoding

Prostate MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) at 3T may provide two‐fold higher spatial resolution over 1.5T, but this can result in longer acquisition times to cover the entire gland using conventional phase‐encoding. In this study, flyback echo‐planar readout trajectories were incorporated into a Malcolm Levitt's composite‐pulse decoupling sequence (MLEV)–point‐resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) to accelerate the acquisition of large array (16 × 16 × 8), high spatial (0.154 cm3) resolution MRSI data by eight‐fold to just 8.5 minutes. Artifact free, high‐quality MRSI data was obtained in nine prostate cancer patients. Easy data reconstruction and the robustness of the flyback echo‐planar encoding make this technique particularly suitable for the clinical setting. The short acquisition time provided by this method reduces the 3T prostate MRI/MRSI exam time, allows longer repetition times, and/or allows the acquisition of additional MR acquisitions within the same exam. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007;25:1288–1292. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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