A double-echo two-excitation pulse sequence encoding fat and water sig
nals for a phase-sensitive three-point Dixon-type analysis (DE-3PD) wa
s developed and implemented on a 1.5 T MR imager. Data processing was
performed using a previously developed two-dimensional (2D) region-gro
wing algorithm, adapted to use double-echo data, Density-, T-1-, and T
-2-weighted fat suppression images were obtained from six volunteers u
sing the new fat suppression method. The images were compared with cor
responding images obtained using frequency-selective excitation fat su
ppression (FAT-SAT) and a single-echo three-point-Dixon method (SE-BPD
). The results demonstrate that the DE-3PD sequence shortens the imagi
ng time by one-third compared with the SE-3PD method, without loss in
image quality. The data also show that a 2D region-growing algorithm e
ffectively unwraps the phase of DE-3PD data sets, and that results of
DE-BPD fat signal suppression are consistently better than those obtai
ned using a standard FATSAT method. The authors conclude that the doub
le-echo sequence provides density-, T-1-, and T-2-weighted images that
appear to be promising for routine clinical applications.