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Abstract #3316

Quick Water-Selective Excitation in Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) Imaging of Tendons and Ligaments at 3T

Fabian Springer1, 2, Ulrich Grosse1, 2, Roland Syha1, 2, Gnter Steidle2, Petros Martirosian2, Fritz Schick2

1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Tbingen, Tbingen, Germany; 2Section on Experimental Radiology, University Hospital Tbingen, Tbingen, Germany

Structure and composition of solid-like tissues lead to a fast signal decay causing hardly any signal using conventional MR imaging sequences. We present a newly developed water-selective ultrashort echo time sequence for improved visualization of tendons and ligaments. Water-selective binomial excitation pulses were implemented; imaging parameters were optimised by means of an analytical description of steady-state magnetization and numerical simulations. Tendons and ligaments were exemplarily examined in-vivo and could be clearly delineated with positive contrast compared to surrounding fatty tissue. The presented sequence seems to be a promising approach which is worth being further evaluated in clinical musculoskeletal MRI.

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Keywords

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