Applications of high-resolution echoplanar spectroscopic imaging for structural imaging

Echoplanar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) was introduced as a fast alternativ e for spectroscopic imaging and has been recently implemented on clinical s canners. With further advances in gradient hardware and processing strategi es, EPSI can be used to obtain spectroscopic images whose spatial resolutio n parallels that of conventional anatomic images within clinically acceptab le acquisition time. The present work demonstrates that high-resolution EPS I can be used to derive structural images for applications in which spectro scopic information is beneficial. These applications are chemical shift (fa t-water) imaging, narrowband-width imaging, and T-2* mapping. In this paper , the EPSI sequence design and processing strategies are detailed and exper imental results in normal volunteers are presented to illustrate the potent ial of using EPSI in imaging anatomic structures. J. Magn. Reson Imaging 19 99; 10:1-7, (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.