Dual-echo interleaved echo-planar imaging of the brain

An interleaved echo-planar imaging (EPI) technique is described that provides images from 20 sections of the brain at two echo times (27 and 84 ms) in 1:05. Six echoes per image per repetition are collected in 24 repetitions of the pulse sequence. MR images of the brain obtained from five volunteers using the dual-echo EPI sequence, fast spin-echo (FSE), and conventional dual-echo spin-echo were evaluated qualitatively for diagnostic use and quantitatively for relative signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast, and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR).