Multi-shot Echo Planar Imaging for accelerated Cartesian MR Fingerprinting: An alternative to conventional spiral MR Fingerprinting

Abstract Purpose To develop an accelerated Cartesian MRF implementation using a multi-shot EPI sequence for rapid simultaneous quantification of T1 and T2 parameters. Methods The proposed Cartesian MRF method involved the acquisition of highly subsampled MR images using a 16-shot EPI readout. A linearly varying flip angle train was used for rapid, simultaneous T1 and T2 quantification. The results were compared to a conventional spiral MRF implementation. The acquisition time per slice was 8s and this method was validated on two different phantoms and three healthy volunteer brains in vivo. Results Joint T1 and T2 estimations using the 16-shot EPI readout are in good agreement with the spiral implementation using the same acquisition parameters ( Conclusion The multi-shot EPI-MRF method generated accurate quantitative multi-parametric maps similar to conventional Spiral-MRF. This multi-shot approach achieved considerable k-space subsampling and comparatively short TRs in a similar manner to spirals and therefore provides an alternative for performing MRF using an accelerated Cartesian readout; thereby increasing the potential usability of MRF.