Fast spin‐echo studies of contrast and small‐lesion definition in a liver‐metastasis phantom

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Abstract
A liver‐metastasis model was used to study the ability of fast spin‐echo (FSE) imaging to show small lesions (1 pixel in diameter) relative to conventional spin‐echo imaging. FSE images of the liver‐metastasis phantom were acquired with various phase‐encode reordering schemes to manipulate T2 contrast. The imaging time for multisection acquisitions was 27 seconds for FSE imaging and 6 minutes 48 seconds for conventional spin‐echo imaging. Computer simulations were performed to determine how the point spread function varies with the different phase‐encoding orders in FSE imaging. Contrast‐to‐noise ratios and signal profiles of the lesions were measured as a function of the effective TE and lesion size. Experimental results and theoretical simulations showed that T2‐weighted FSE imaging provides high contrast and good edge definition even for small lesions. The results indicate that FSE imaging may become a powerful method for the early detection of liver metastases.