Radial vs. Spiral – A Comparison of Stack-of-stars and Stack-of-spirals Spatial Encoding Schemes in Multiparametric Body MRI with QTI

Highly accelerated multiparametric MRI techniques are more and more demonstrating their diagnostic potential. To achieve short scan times, these techniques rely on non-Cartesian (under-) sampling. Initially developed for MRI applications in the brain, these sequences are now also applied in body MRI. In this work, we present a phantom and in vivo study to demonstrate and evaluate the strengths and pitfalls of the two most common non-Cartesian – spiral and radial – sampling schemes for the application of rapid, free-breathing 3D T1, T2 and proton density (PD) mapping with quantitative transient-state imaging (QTI) in the prostate gland.