Clinical evaluation of CAIPIRINHA: comparison against a GRAPPA standard.

Purpose: To evaluate image quality when using a CAIPIRINHA sampling pattern in comparison to a standard GRAPPA sampling pattern in patients undergoing a routine three-dimensional (3D) breathheld liver exam. CAIPIRINHA uses an optimized phase encoding sampling strategy to alter aliasing artifacts in 3D acquisitions to improve parallel imaging reconstruction.

Materials And Methods: Twenty patient volunteers were scanned using a 3D VIBE acquisition with an acceleration factor of four using a CAIPIRINHA and standard GRAPPA sampling pattern.