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--- library:echo_train_length [2025/03/31 14:36] – [Indirect Parameter Effects] scott
+++ library:echo_train_length [2025/03/31 15:06] (current) – [Selecting an appropriate ETL] scott
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 ====Selecting an appropriate ETL====
-When selecting the ETL, it is important to consider the contributions of all the echoes within the ETL to image quality, as there are some special behaviors that occur with trains of RF pulses and echoes. Very long ETL's will result in echoes that may extend out far beyond the desired effective TE. The further out the echo, the more T2 decay will occur and the 'quality' of the echo will degrade and contribute to image blurring. Additionally, a long ETL means that many more refocusing pulses will be required; this will increase SAR and also lead to some degree of tissue saturation and magnetization transfer effects. Long ETL's also take up significantly more space within the TR, so there will be a tipping point where increasing ETL will no long decrease imaging time, as the TR will have to be increased to make room for all the additional echoes. Below is an example of a T2 fast spin echo with different ETLs: 13, 24, 32, 64. Notice how edge details rapidly become blurred as the ETL is increased, and the blurring is preferentially in the phase encoding direction. Keep an eye on the maximum TE when selecting the ETL, it will increase rapidly as ETL is increased.
+When selecting the ETL, it is important to consider the contributions of all the echoes within the ETL to image quality, as there are some special behaviors that occur with trains of RF pulses and echoes. Very long ETL's will result in echoes that may extend out far beyond the desired effective TE. The further out the echo, the more T2 decay will occur and the 'quality' of the echo will degrade and contribute to image blurring. Additionally, a long ETL means that many more refocusing pulses will be required; this will increase SAR and also lead to some degree of tissue saturation and magnetization transfer effects. Long ETL's also take up significantly more space within the TR, so there will be a tipping point where increasing ETL will no long decrease imaging time, as the TR will have to be increased to make room for all the additional echoes. Below is an example of a T2 fast spin echo with different ETLs: 13, 24, 32, 64. Notice how edge details rapidly become blurred as the ETL is increased, and the blurring is preferentially in the phase encoding direction. Keep an eye on the maximum TE when selecting the ETL, it will increase rapidly as ETL is increased. In general, select the shortest ETL possible to achieve a reasonably short scan time and appropriately selectable TE's.
 {{:library:etl_13-64_6_.gif|}}
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
   * T1 Contrast: ETL 2-4, Maximum TE ~30ms
   * PD Contrast: ETL 7-11, Maximum TE ~100ms
-  * T2 Contrast: ETL 16-24, Maximum TE ~250ms
+  * T2 Contrast: ETL 16-24, Maximum TE ~200ms
 ====Selecting the Effective TE====
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 {{:library:t1_etl_and_te.gif}}
+====ETL and Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)====
+The SAR model used by most scanners tends to be inaccurate in the setting of small animal scanning, in part due to the much smaller patient weights. Typically the ETL is comprised of 180 degree refocusing pulses that will contribute to patient heating and lead to high SAR calculations, which may force the scanner to pause in the middle of a sequence. To reduce actual and estimated patient heating with small animals, it is often necessary to reduce this refocusing flip angle. In practice, this parameter change will have relatively little effect on image contrast and can be as low as 110 degrees. In T2 weighted sequences the longer TR will tend to balance out the RF heating from the refocusing pulses, but this is not the case with the shorter TR of T1 weighted sequences, especially if multiple T1 weighted sequences are to be run in succession.
 ====Indirect Parameter Effects====