Efficient biphasic spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging

The concept of temporal echo multiplexing is defined and used to develop rapid biphasic spin-echo sequences for imaging the heart. Three imaging sequences, based on four-echo and two-echo multiplexing and rapid single echo (i.e., conventional spin-echo imaging), are compared. Preliminary results indicate that two-echo multiplexing yields a significantly reduced acquisition time window with image quality that is only slightly inferior to single-echo imaging. Single-echo biphasic imaging results in the most consistent image quality.