Spatio-temporal encoding by quadratic gradients in magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract. SPatio-temporal ENcoding (SPEN) MRI is a non-Fourier imaging technique that encodes the spatial information in such a way that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the signal intensity as a function of time and the spin density at the corresponding position. In current spatio-temporal encoding methods imparting a quadratic phase – that is the phase of the transverse magnetization depends as a quadratic function of the spatial coordinates – onto the transverse magnetization is the first crucial step. Usually, this is achieved by simultaneous application of a frequency-swept (chirp) pulse and a linear magnetic field gradient. In this work, we show that it can be advantageous to use quadratic encoding gradients for this purpose. By avoiding chirp pulses one can achieve much smaller specific absorption rates (SARs), and shorter echo times (TEs), while the spatial resolution, the field of view (FOV), and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are the same as in SPEN if one uses similar parameters. In addition, the proposed sequence can readily be used for multi-slice applications.