This provides information on the quality and thickness of the cartilage (TR = 50; TE = 11; flip angle = 30°; field of view = 18 cm; matrix 256 × 192; number of excitations = 1; slab = 90 mm; partitions = 60 (i.e. each slice = 1.5 mm). 3. A 3D dual excitation in the steady state sequence with fat saturation.
A three-dimensional spoiled gradient-recalled echo sequence in the steady-state sequence was used to acquire 124 contiguous 1.5-mm thick slices in the axial plane (TE =5 ms; TR =24 ms; flip angle, 45°, acquisition matrix =256 × 192; number of excitations, 1; field of view, 240 mm; acquisition time, 9 min, 52 s).
A three-dimensional volumetric acquisition of a T1-weighted gradient echo sequence produced a gapless series of 124 sagittal sections using a spoiled gradient recalled acquisition in the steady state (SPGR) sequence (TE/TR, 4.2/12.6 ms; flip angle, 15°; acquisition matrix, 256 × 256; 1NEX, FOV, 24 × 24 cm; slice thickness, 1.4 mm).
A high-resolution T1-weighted 3-dimensional (3-D) spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition in the steady state (SPGR) sequence was also acquired for interparticipant registration.
Midline sagittal plane imaging of the spine was performed using a receive-only surface coil and an ultrafast spoiled GRASS (gradient recalled acquisition in the steady state) pulse sequence.
The NYU high-resolution MRI were acquired on a 1.5-T Signa magnet (General Electric, Milwaukee, WI) with a standard whole brain 3D T1-weighted protocol [Radio Frequency-Spoiled Gradient Recalled Acquisition in the Steady State (SPGR) pulse sequence, 124 contiguous coronal slices, 1.3 mm thick, TR = 35 ms, TE = 9 ms, flip angle 60°, FOV = 18 cm, 1 excitation, 256 × 128 matrix].
MRI protocol was T1-weighted coronals (3-D, spoiled gradient recalled acquisition in the steady state [SPGR]; pulse sequence): repetition time (TR) 40 ms; echo time (TE) 5 ms; number of excitations (NEX) 2; flip angle 40°; field of view 24 cm; matrix 256 × 128; 124 slices with section thickness of 1.5 mm, no gaps.
A recent report compared T1FS sequences with two variants of T2GE sequences, three-dimensional -fast low angle shot (3D-FLASH) and three-dimensional-double excitation in the steady state (3D-DESS) sequences, in a retrospective analysis of scans of 30 patients with clinically suspected sacroiliitis and nine healthy controls [ 23].
Sagittal images were obtained using a T2-weighted fat-suppressed three-dimensional gradient-recalled acquisition sequence in the steady state (repetition time 14.45 msec, echo time 5.17 msec; flip angle 25°, slice thickness 1.5 mm, field of view 16 cm, pixel matrix 320 × 320, acquisition time 7 minutes 47 seconds, and one acquisition).
Sagittal images were obtained using a T2-weighted fat-suppressed three-dimensional gradient-recalled acquisition sequence in the steady state (repetition time 14.45 milliseconds, echo time 5.17 milliseconds; flip angle 25°, slice thickness 1.5 mm, field of view 16 cm, pixel matrix 320 × 320, acquisition time 7 minutes 47 seconds, and 1 acquisition).
