Clinical evaluation of 3D half-Fourier RARE for MRCP

Introduction Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is evolving as an effective non-invasive imaging technique for examining patients with suspected pancreatic or biliary disease. The two dimensional (2D) half-Fourier RARE sequence is one of optimal pulse sequences for the standard MRCP (1). However the 2D halfFourier RARE sequence have several limitations such as lower spatial resolution in the slice-selection direction. Three dimension (3D) volume acquisition technique allows generation of multiplanar thin slices without interslice gap. 3D half-Fourier RARE sequence may have potential advantages relating to signal to noise ratio and visualizing fine ducts over 2D method. In this study, we evaluate the 31) half-Fourier RARE-MRCP sequence in comparison with single thick slice and multiple slice 2D half-Fourier RARE-MRCP.