Fast spin-echo triple-echo dixon (fTED) technique for efficient T ₂-weighted water and fat imaging

Previously published fast spin-echo (FSE) implementations of a Dixon method for water and fat separation all require multiple scans and thus a relatively long scan time. Further, the minimum echo spacing (esp), a time critical for FSE image quality and scan efficiency, often needs to be increased in order to bring about the required phase shift between the water and fat signals. This work proposes and implements a novel FSE triple-echo Dixon (fTED) technique that can address these limitations. In the new technique, three raw images are acquired in a single FSE scan by replacing each frequency-encoding gradient in a conventional FSE with three consecutive gradients of alternating polarity. The timing of the three gradients is adjusted by selecting an appropriate receiver bandwidth (RBW) so that the water and fat signals for the three corresponding echoes have a relative phase shift of -180°, 0°, and 180°, respectively. A fully automated postprocessing algorithm is then used to generate separate water-only and fat-only images for each slice. The technique was implemented with and without parallel imaging. We demonstrate that the new fTED technique enables both uniform water/fat separation and fast scanning with uncompromised scan parameters, including applications such as T ₂-weighted separate water and fat imaging of the abdomen during breath-holding.