This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Image-guided cryoablation is a promising minimally invasive therapy for prostate cancer. MRI provides the promise of temperature mapping throughout the frozen area to better guide the procedure than the placement of discrete thermocouples. Previous studies have shown the tissue transverse relaxation rate R2* (1/T2) to be relatively linear over the temperature range of interest. In order to quantitate R2* in frozen tissue, half pulses are used to obtain ultrashort echo times (UTE). Their slice profile is sensitive to eddy currents that make it difficult to quantitate R2*. Also, the signal in UTE images is often dominated by long T2 components, which need to be suppressed to enhance the contrast of the short T2 species. The purpose of this work is to develop an RF pulse that does slice selective long T2 suppression while exciting short T2, thus making short T2 imaging and quantitation less sensitive to eddy currents.
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