Fast magnetic resonance imaging and velocimetry for liquids under high flow rates

We here demonstrate the use of NMR velocity imaging techniques to measure flow in a free falling jet of water at speeds up to and on the order of 1 m/s. In particular, we show how to adapt the RARE imaging method, based on a CPMG multiple rf pulse train, so that the real and imaginary parts of the signal may be suitably acquired, enabling pulsed gradient spin echo encoding for flow. We term this method "soft-pulse-quadrature-cycled PGSE-RARE" or SPQC-PGSE-RARE. We further demonstrate the use of a one-dimensional (slice selective) imaging method which takes advantage of the cylindrical symmetry of the flow, and considerably shortens the image acquisition time. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.