DANTE-prepared pulse trains: A novel approach to motion-sensitized and motion-suppressed quantitative magnetic resonance imaging

Delay alternating with nutation for tailored excitation (DANTE) pulse trains are well appreciated as frequency-selective excitation methods in Fourier transform NMR and for spatial tagging in MRI. In this study, nonselective DANTE pulse trains are used in combination with gradient pulses and short repetition times as motion-sensitive preparation modules. We show that while the longitudinal magnetization of static tissue is mostly preserved, flowing spins are largely (or fully) attenuated as they fail to establish transverse steady state due to a spoiling effect caused by flow along the applied gradient. The attenuation of flowing spins is effectively insensitive to spin velocity (above a low threshold) and can be approximately quantified with a simple T1 longitudinal magnetization decay model. The relevant analytical equations for moving spins and static spins during DANTE module application are derived for both transient and steady state epochs. The equations are validated by comparing analytical solutions and numerical Bloch equation simulations against experimental observations in phantoms and in vivo. Based on this contrast mechanism, the application of the DANTE preparation to black blood vessel imaging is proposed. A simple demonstration of DANTE black blood imaging modules shows that it provides excellent blood signal suppression and static tissue signal preservation. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.