When this book was initially published three years ago, it was my goal to delineate the principles of magnetic resonance imaging in a format that could be understood without a sophisticated physics or mathematics backยญ ground. That is still my goal. However, in the interim, it has become clear to me that many magnetic resonance techniques that we now routinely use are inadequately understood by many of us. Therefore, I have re-structured and expanded the book in the following way. There are now three main sections: of the sections one and two deal with the contrast and spatial characteristics image, as they did in the original text; and an additional section deals with various peripheral but significant magnetic resonance topics. Sections one and two still provide the "meat" of the material through the guise of the spin-echo pulse sequence; but section three goes beyond by explaining other pulse cycles and devices that are commonly used in today's imaging centers. To begin with, since fast scanning has now become a widely used techยญ nique, that chapter has been significantly expanded, and now includes a complete but non-mathematical explanation of what a gradient echo is and how fast scan images differ in principle from spin-echo images. Also, the applications of 3DFT and "half-Fourier" imaging are graphically covered without mathematical intervention
CONTENT
Section 1-Image Contrast -- Overview -- Magnetic Field -- Radiofrequency Pulse -- Relaxation -- Pulse Cycles, Pulse Sequences and Tissue Contrast -- T2 and the Spin-echo Pulse Cycle -- Section 2-The Image in Space -- Gradients -- The Slice Select Gradient -- Frequency Gradient -- The Fourier Transform -- The Phase Encoding Gradient -- Inside the โBlack Boxโ: From Signal to Image -- Wrapping Up Basic Concepts -- Section 3-Miscellaneous Topics -- Some Other Pulse Cycles and Procedures -- Motion -- Aliasing -- Fat and Water -- Coils -- User Parameter Summary
