Composite spin locking pulse sequence and method of using the same

1. A magnetic resonance imaging method comprising:

(a) performing a first magnetic resonance imaging sequence with a magnetic resonance imaging system, the sequence comprising:

(i) a first preparatory composite spin locking pulse sequence having a spin lock pulse bounded by similarly oriented spin tipping pulses; and

(ii) an acquisition pulse sequence to acquire first magnetic resonance data;

(b) performing a second magnetic resonance imaging sequence with the magnetic resonance imaging system, the sequence comprising:

(i) a second preparatory composite spin locking pulse sequence having a spin lock pulse bounded by oppositely oriented spin tipping pulses; and

(ii) an acquisition pulse sequence to acquire second magnetic resonance data; and

(c) storing the magnetic resonance data in a memory circuit.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the first and second preparatory pulse sequences comprising the spin lock pulses comprises B0 and B1 inhomogeneity compensation.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising (d) determining difference data from the first and second magnetic resonance data and storing the difference data.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the difference data substantially removes T2ρ contamination.

5. The method of claim 3 , comprising performing steps (a) and (b) repeatedly and generating the difference data based upon multiple sets of image data resulting from the repeated performance of steps (a) and (b).

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein for at least two of the repetitions of steps (a) and (b) different spin lock pulse durations (TSL) are utilized.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein each of the TSL provides different T1ρ weighting.

8. The method of claim 7 , comprising quantifying T1ρ on a pixel-by-pixel basis using the difference data.

9. The method of claim 8 , comprising generating a T1ρ map consisting of T1rho value of a subject of interest on a pixel-by-pixel basis.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (a) is performed before step (b).

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) is performed before step (a).

12. The method of claim 3 , wherein step (d) is performed on data in k space.

13. The method of claim 3 , wherein step (d) is performed on data in image space.

14. A magnetic resonance imaging method comprising:

(a) performing a first magnetic resonance imaging sequence with a magnetic resonance imaging system, the sequence comprising:

(i) a first preparatory composite spin locking pulse sequence having a spin lock pulse bounded by similarly oriented spin tipping pulses; and

(ii) an acquisition pulse sequence to acquire first magnetic resonance data;

(b) performing a second magnetic resonance imaging sequence with a magnetic resonance imaging system, the sequence comprising:

(i) a second preparatory composite spin locking pulse sequence having a spin lock pulse bounded by oppositely oriented spin tipping pulses; and

(ii) an acquisition pulse sequence to acquire second magnetic resonance data;

(c) generating difference data on a pixel-by-pixel basis from the first and second data as the data is collected;

(d) storing the difference data in a memory circuit.

15. The method of claim 14 , comprising performing steps (a) and (b) repeatedly and generating a plurality of difference data values for each pixel based upon multiple sets of data resulting from the repeated performance of steps (a) and (b), wherein for at least two of the repetitions of steps (a) and (b) different spin lock pulse durations (TSLs) are utilized to provide different T1ρ weighting for each of the first and second magnetic resonance data.

16. The method of claim 15 , comprising generating a plot of acquired signal as a function of TSL and fitting an exponential curve to the plot to quantify T1ρ for each pixel, wherein the quantified T1ρ is used to generate a T1ρ map of the subject of interest.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein one iteration of steps (a), (b), and (c) results in one line of k-space being filled with the difference data.

18. The method of claim 14 , comprising generating a T1ρ weighted image from the difference data.

19. A magnetic resonance imaging system comprising:

a primary field magnet;

a set of gradient field coils;

a radiofrequency field coil;

control circuitry coupled to the gradient field coils and to the radiofrequency field coil, the control circuitry configured to apply control signals to the gradient and radiofrequency coils in order to perform a magnetic resonance imaging sequence comprising:

(a) a first magnetic resonance imaging sequence comprising:

(i) a first preparatory composite spin locking pulse sequence having a spin lock pulse bounded by similarly oriented spin tipping pulses; and

(ii) an acquisition pulse sequence in order to acquire first magnetic resonance data;

(b) a second magnetic resonance imaging sequence comprising:

(i) a second preparatory composite spin locking pulse sequence having a spin lock pulse bounded by oppositely oriented spin tipping pulses; and

(ii) an acquisition pulse sequence in order to acquire second magnetic resonance data; and processing circuitry configured to determine difference data from the first and second magnetic resonance data in order to characterize T1ρ Data for a subject of interest.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to subtract the first magnetic resonance data from the second magnetic resonance data as the first magnetic resonance data is acquired and deposited into k-space in order to determine the difference data, or to subtract the second magnetic resonance data from the first magnetic resonance data as the second magnetic resonance data is acquired and deposited into k-space in order to determine the difference data.