Interactive reduced FOV imaging for projection reconstruction and spiral acquisition

MR fluoroscopy is likely to gain increasing importance for the visualization of dynamic processes such as cardiac function and for the guidance of interventional procedures. In many applications the dynamic processes are restricted to a part of the object under study making reduced field of view (rFOV) imaging desirable. The restriction to a smaller FOV can either be used to increase the spatial or the temporal resolution. In projection reconstruction (PR) and spiral imaging severe backfolding artifacts occur if a rFOV is used. In this paper efficient suppression schemes are proposed for PR- and spiral imaging to avoid backfolding artifacts. Evaluation of the proposed schemes was done on an interactive real-time MR-scanner. Cardiac function studies clearly showed the potential of this technique for PR- and spiral imaging. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.