3D balanced EPI magnetic resonance fingerprinting

1. A method for acquiring magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) data from a subject using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the method including steps comprising:

a) selecting a pulse sequence to perform that samples k-space in a Cartesian acquisition pattern by acquiring an echo train;

b) determining acquisition parameters for the pulse sequence by performing an iterative minimization, wherein the acquisition parameters include at least one of repetition time (TR) or flip angle (FA), selected to control a total acquisition time required to perform the pulse sequence;

c) directing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to acquire 3-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) data from the subject by performing the pulse sequence;

d) directing the MRI system to repeat step c) using varied scan parameters to acquire sets of the 3D MRF data using differing scan parameters;

e) estimating quantitative tissue properties of the subject by comparing the sets of the 3D MRF data using differing scan parameters to a database; and

f) generate at least one image of the subject indicating the quantitative tissue properties.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein step d) includes using a variable FA, α, that is varied according to the acquisition parameters for each repetition of step c) to acquire the sets of the 3D MRF data using differing scan parameters.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein step b) includes providing an initial, randomly generated seed vector of the acquisition parameters.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the seed vector has a length including flip angles (FA) and repetition times (TR) for a k-space trajectory and is used to simulate a signal for a range of quantitative parameters, wherein the range of the simulated signals is less than a range of measured quantitative parameters.

5. The method of claim 4 , the quantitative parameters include at least one of T 1 values, T 2 values, proton density values, or off-resonance.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the seed vector and simulated quantitative parameters are used to form a matrix, A.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the matrix, A, is used to calculate a dot product matrix having off-diagonal elements indicating a quality of matching between different elements of the matrix, A.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein step b) includes performing an optimization process according to:

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where ƒ(x) is a function that simulates k-space trajectories using selected acquisition parameters and computes the dot product matrix given a vector, x, of the selected acquisition parameters and λ is a penalty term applied to control against minimizing on-diagonal elements in the dot product matrix.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the varied scan parameters include TR and FA.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulse sequence includes a 3D balanced-echo planar imaging (b-EPI) pulse sequence.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the pulse sequence includes balanced stead state free precession (b-SSFP) EPI pulse sequence.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein step c) includes averaging data acquired from a common echo train.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quantitative tissue properties include proton density, ρ, T 1 , or T 2 .

14. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, comprising:

a magnet system configured to generate a static magnetic field about at least a volume of interest (VOI) of a subject arranged in the MRI system;

at least one gradient coil configured to establish at least one magnetic gradient field with respect to the static magnetic field;

a radio frequency (RF) system configured to deliver excitation pulses to a subject;

and a computer system programmed to:

determine acquisition parameters by performing an iterative minimization, wherein the acquisition parameters include at least one of repetition time (TR) or flip angle (FA), selected to minimize one of a total acquisition time and a number of repetitions of a pulse sequence that samples k-space in a Cartesian acquisition pattern by acquiring an echo train;

control the at least one gradient coil and the RF system to perform the pulse sequence a plurality of times using varied scan parameters;

acquire magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) data corresponding to signals from the subject excited by the pulse sequence;

estimate quantitative tissue properties of the subject by comparing the MRF data to a database; and

reconstruct, from the MRF data, at least one image of the subject indicating the estimated quantitative tissue properties.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the static magnetic field is less than 10 mT.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to control the at least one gradient coil and the RF system to perform the pulse sequence a plurality of times includes using a variable FA, α, that is varied according to the acquisition parameters for each repetition to acquire the of MRF data using differing scan parameters.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the pulse sequence includes a 3D balanced-echo planar imaging (b-EPI) pulse sequence.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the pulse sequence includes balanced stead state free precession (b-SSFP) EPI pulse sequence.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to utilize delays in the pulse sequence provided for magnetization recovery of successive phase encoding k-space lines for acquisition of multiple slices to acquire three-dimensional (3D) MRF data.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the quantitative tissue properties include proton density, ρ, T 1 , or T 2 .

21. The method of claim 14 , wherein performing the iterative minimization begins by providing an initial seed vector of the acquisition parameters.