SENSE and simultaneous multislice imaging.

Purpose: Simultaneous multislice (SMS) acquisitions play an important role in the challenge of increasing single-shot imaging speed. We show that sensitivity encoding in two spatial dimensions (two-dimensional sensitivity encoding [2D-SENSE]) can be used to reconstruct SMS acquisitions with periodic but otherwise arbitrary undersampling patterns.

Theory And Methods: By adopting a 3D k-space representation of the SMS sampling process, the accelerated in-plane and slice-encoding directions form a 2D-reconstruction problem that is equivalent to volumetric controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA). 2D-SENSE does not otherwise distinguish between standard volumetric and SMS imaging with arbitrary CAIPIRINHA sampling.

Results: Use of the SENSE algorithm is demonstrated for in vivo brain data obtained with blipped-CAIPRINHA sampling in 2D SMS-echo planar imaging (EPI) and rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) acquisitions as well as 3D-EPI with various in-plane and through-plane acceleration factors and CAIPIRINHA shifts. The proposed SENSE reconstruction works for any combination of SMS-factor and CAIPIRINHA shift by the addition of "dummy slices" that allow for noninteger undersampling in the slice direction. Images with commonly used slice-generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisitions reconstruction are shown for reference.

Conclusion: SENSE is conceptually simple and provides a one-step reconstruction along both undersampled dimensions. It also provides a contrast-independent parallel imaging reconstruction for SMS.