Technical Parameters for Different MRI Sequences
| Region | Sequence | Image plane | Slice thickness (mm) | Gap (%) | Slices (no.) | Acquisition time (min:s) | TR/TE | Matrix | Field of view (mm) | Resolution (mm2) | GRAPPA | Breath hold | Remarks |
| AC | |||||||||||||
| Whole body | 3D T1 VIBE Dixon | Coronal | 3.12 | 0 | 128 | 0:19 | 3.60/1.23–2.46* | 192 × 121 | 500 | 4.1 × 2.6 | 2 | + | MRI-based AC |
| Diagnostic sequences for whole-body coverage | |||||||||||||
| Whole body | T1 TSE | Coronal | 5 | 30 | 25–36 | 1:11 | 600/8.7 | 384 × 230 | 450 | 2.0 × 1.2 | 2 | + for chest, abdomen | |
| Whole body | T2 STIR | Coronal | 5 | 30 | 25–36 | 1:25–3:15† | 7.9/500 | 259 × 384 | 450 | 2.9 × 1.8 | 3 | Free breathing | |
| Diagnostic sequences for partial-body coverage | |||||||||||||
| Partial body | T2 HASTE fat sat | Axial | 5 | 20 | 25 | 1:08 | 1,600/95 | 320 × 260 | 380 | 1.5 × 1.2 | 2 | Free breathing | Partial body = chest to pelvis, dark-blood pulse |
| Lungs | 3D VIBE + CM | Axial | 4 | 0 | 72 | 0:18 | 3.24/1.23 | 320 × 240 | 400 | 1.7 × 1.3 | 2 | + | 11% slice oversampling |
| Abdomen to pelvis | 3D VIBE + CM | Axial | 5 | 0 | 44 | 0:16 | 3.29/1.16 | 320 × 260 | 460 | 1.8 × 1.4 | 2 | + | Two stacks; 45% slice oversampling |
| Prostate cancer recurrence | |||||||||||||
| Prostate | T2 TSE | Axial | 3 | 20 | 31 | 4:47 | 4,610/101 | 320 × 310 | 200 | 0.6 × 0.6 | 2 | – | |
| Prostate | DWI | Axial | 3.6 | 0 | 20 | 5:39 | 4,500/93 | 160 × 120 | 260 | 2.2 × 1.6 | 2 | – | b = 50, 400, 800 s/mm2 |
| Prostate | 3D TWIST | Axial | 3.6 | 0 | 20 | 5:24 | 4.83/1.87 | 192 × 132 | 260 | 2.0 × 1.4 | 2 | – | DCE; temporal resolution, 4.25 s |
| Primary staging of ENT tumors | |||||||||||||
| Neck | T1 TSE ± CM | Axial | 4.0 | 20 | 30 | 3:46 | 1,330/10 | 384 × 384 | 230 | 0.6 × 0.6 | 2 | – | Each sequence before and after CM |
| Neck | T2 STIR | Axial | 4.0 | 20 | 30 | 3:48 | 5,810/54 | 320 × 320 | 230 | 0.7 × 0.7 | 2 | – | |
| Neck | T1 TSE fat sat + CM | Coronal | 4.0 | 20 | 20 | 3:37 | 1,290/9.6 | 320 × 320 | 230 | 0.7 × 0.7 | 2 | – | |
| Neck | T2 STIR | Sagittal | 4.0 | 2 | 28 | 4:11 | 5,090/57 | 384 × 345 | 240 | 0.7 × 0.6 | 2 | – | |
| Focus on potential liver metastases | |||||||||||||
| Liver | T2 HASTE | Coronal | 5.0 | 20 | 30 | 0:42 | 1,400/96 | 256 × 256 | 380 | 1.5 × 1.5 | 3 | + | |
| Liver | T2 HASTE fat sat | Axial | 5.0 | 20 | 35 | 1:08 | 1,600/95 | 320 × 260 | 380 | 1.5 × 1.2 | 2 | + | |
| Liver | DWI | Axial | 5.0 | 20 | 35 | 5:04 | 7,800/82 | 192 × 144 | 380 | 2.6 × 2.0 | 2 | Free breathing | b = 50, 400, 800 s/mm2 |
| Liver | VIBE | Axial | 3.0 | 20 | 64 | 0:18 | 4.06/1.91 | 320 × 240 | 380 | 1.6 × 1.2 | 2 | + | DCE: without CM, arterial, portal-venous, late phase; 13% slice oversampling |
| Diagnostic whole-body protocol‡ | |||||||||||||
| Brain | T2 FLAIR | Axial | 4.0 | 30 | 25 | 2:08 | 9,000/85 | 256 × 192 | 220 | 1.1 × 0.9 | 2 | – | |
| Brain | T1 GRE +CM | Axial | 4.0 | 30 | 25 | 2:10 | 250/2.48 | 320 × 256 | 220 | 0.9 × 0.7 | — | – | |
| Brain | T1 GRE +CM | Coronal | 4.0 | 30 | 35 | 1:25 | 250/2.48 | 320 × 256 | 220 | 0.9 × 0.7 | — | – | |
| Lungs | T2 HASTE | Coronal | 8.0 | 30 | 30 | 0:22 | 650/28 | 320 × 256 | 400 | 1.6 × 1.3 | 3 | + | |
| Liver | DWI | Axial | 5.0 | 20 | 35 | 4:08 | 9,200/85 | 192 × 144 | 380 | 2.6 × 2.0 | 2 | Free breathing | b = 50, 800 s/mm2 |
| Neck | VIBE Dixon | Axial | 4.0 | 20 | 36 | 0:28 | 5.61/2.46–3.69 | 320 × 260 | 400 | 1.5 × 1.3 | 2 | – | 44% slice oversampling |
↵* Fat saturation techniques with Dixon require 2 repetition times.
↵† Acquisition time is dependent on number of averages and slices per slab specific for different body regions (3–5).
↵‡ Only sequences not part of other protocols are mentioned.
3D = 3-dimensional; b = b-value; BLADE = noncartesian k-space data acquisition for motion correction in TSE sequences; CM = contrast medium; DCE = dynamic contrast enhanced; DWI = diffusion-weighted imaging; FLAIR = fluid-attenuated inversion recovery; GRAPPA = generalized autocalibrating partially-parallel acquisition (as integrated parallel-acquisition technique [iPAT; Siemens Healthcare]); GRE = gradient echo; sat = saturation; STIR = short-τ inversion recovery; TE = echo time; TR = repetition time; TSE = turbo spin echo; TWIST = dynamic contrast-enhanced sequence with k-space sharing.