Magnetic resonance imaging of gases:: A single-point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement (SPRITE) study

A pure phase-encoding MRI technique, single-point ramped imaging with T-1 enhancement, SPRITE, is introduced for the purpose of gas phase imaging. The technique utilizes broadband RF pulses and stepped phase encode gradients to produce images, substantially free of artifacts, which are sensitive to the gas T-1 and T-2* relaxation times. Images may be acquired from gas phase species with transverse relaxation times substantially less than 1 ms. Methane gas images, H-1, were acquired in a phantom study. Sulfur hexafluoride, F-19, images were acquired from a gas-filled porous coral sample. High porosity regions of the coral are observed in both the MRI image and an X-ray image. Sensitivity and resolution effects due to signal modulation during the time-efficient acquisition are discussed. A method to increase the image sensitivity is discussed, and the predicted improvement is shown through 1D images of the methane gas phantom. (C) 1999 Academic Press.