Wavelet encoded MR imaging

Wavelet encoding has been proposed as an alternative way to Fourier based phase encoding in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. In wavelet encoding, the RF pulse is designed to generate wavelet-shaped excitation profile of spins. From the resulting echo signals. the wavelet transform coefficients of spin distribution are acquired and an original spin density is reconstructed from wavelet expansion. Wavelet encoding has several advantages over phase encoding. It has a unique capability to spatially select resolution of reconstructed images, because of multiresolution property of compactly supported wavelet representation. By minimizing redundancy of the data acquisition in a dynamic series of images, we can avoid some encoding steps without serious loss of quality in reconstructed image. This strategy may be regarded as data compression during imaging. Although there are some limitations in wavelet encoding, it is a promising scheme in a dynamic imaging. (author)