Feasibility of spiral diffusion imaging on a clinical 3T MR system

Spiral diffusion imaging has been shown to provide substantial SNR advantages (>50%) over state-of-the-art echo-planar imaging, due to the attainable shorter echo times. We investigate the feasibility of this approach on a standard 3T MR system without additional instrumentation. All tools for successful implementation are freely made available, i.e., the characterization measurement for the gradient system using a standard phantom, and an open-source, fast image reconstruction suite in Julia correcting for gradient imperfections, eddy currents, and static B0 off-resonance. We show that this low-cost, accessible solution provides high-resolution diffusion images (1.1mm) in-vivo with reduced geometric distortion and improved quantitative maps.