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Abstract #0786

Fetal Imaging with EPI FOV, SNR & Distortion Correction

Zhiqing Wu1, Rita G. Nunes1, 2, Shaihan J. Malik1, Georgia Lockwood Estrin1, Emer J. Hughes1, Christina Malamateniou1, Serena J. Counsell1, Mary A. Rutherford1, Joseph V. Hajnal1

1Robert Steiner MRI Unit,Imaging Sciences Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 2Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Fetal brain imaging with echo planar imaging (EPI) has extensive applications, notably Diffusion Tensor Imaging. EPI brain imaging in adults and children normally employs the smallest field of view combined with parallel imaging to reduce distortion and mitigate signal losses from T2&T2* decay. The balance of issues is quite different for fetal applications: the fetal brain has much longer T2&T2* and there is no air or mineralised bone within the womb to produce localised B0 anomalies, but there is large scale fetal motion. We have explored the implications of these factors to achieve improved Slice-to-Volume reconstruction (SVR) using EPI.

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Keywords

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