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Abbreviation seen used

Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Number of repetitions of data
ACQ ACQuisitions acquisition, for signal averaging. Cf
NSA, NEX
A device that converts a continuous
Analogue to Digital
ADC signal to a series of discrete digital
Converter numbers
Apparent average diffusion-freedom of
ADC Apparent Diffusion w ater molecules, implying organisation
Coefficient of tissue structure
AFOV Asymmetric Field-Of-View see RFOV
The characteristics (duration, variation
AIF Arterial Input Function of flow ) of the injection of contrast
agent bolus
Time betw een the end of a trigger
delay and the beginning of the next
AIT Available Imaging Time
trigger w indow , during w hich data
acquisition may occur
Front to back direction, normal to the
AP Anterior-to-Posterior
coronal plane
Prescan function to test for ghosting
from elements beyond the prescribed
APA Adaptive Phase Array FOV, by assessing signal levels; w here
ghosting is found those elements are
sw itched off during data acquisition
Automatic adjustment of centre
APS Automatic PreScan frequency, transmit gain and receiver
gain
Rejection and subsequent re-
AR Arrhythmia Rejection measuring of data acquired in R-R
intervals deemed too short or too long
A self-calibrated parallel imaging
Auto-calibrating
method. GRAPPA-based w ith improved
ARC Reconstruction for
computational efficiency allow ing
Cartesian sampling
higher reconstruction accuracy
Acoustic Reduction Pulse sequence modification technique
ART
Technology for quieter pulse sequences
Automatic motion correction. 3D data is
Advanced Retrospective
ART shifted, rotated and interpolated to
Technique
correspond to a reference data set
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Use of spins as an endogenous
contrast agent by means of magnetic
labeling (e.g. inversion). Tw o images
are acquired; one w ith labeled
inflow ing arterial blood, and one
ASL Arterial Spin Labelling
w ithout the labeling (control image).
Control image minus labeled image =
signal proportional to blood flow , used
in the calculation of a perfusion
estimate
Parallel imaging method, based on
Array Spatial Sensitivity sensitivity encoding. Calculations to
ASSET
Encoding Technique unw rap aliasing are made in the image
domain
Dedicated environment for image
AVE Advanced Viewing view ing and analysis on the MR
Environment
scanner console
Image review ing and analysis
AW Advantage Workstation
computer / softw are
In spectrocopy: A prescan during
w hich suppression parameters to be
Automated Water
AWSO used in the follow ing scan are
Suppression Optimisation
optimised to maximise suppression of
the w ater peak
Balanced TRiggered Peripheral MRA using triggered 3D
B-TRANCE Angiography Non balanced turbo gradient echo, no
Contrast Enhanced contrast agent used
The alw ays-on strong magnetic field,
B0 main, static magnetic field
e.g. 1.5 Tesla, 3.0 Tesla
magnetic field oscillating "RF pulse" and "B1 field" are
at radio frequency (RF synonymous. This field is referred to as
B1
pulses: excitation, a "pulse" simply because it is turned
refocusing, etc) on only a brief moment
Data storage memory, before and
BAM Bulk Acquisition Memory
during image reconstruction
Frequency-selective suppression of
w ater and/or fat. A bipolar gradient
BAnd Selective INversion
BASING pair surrounds a frequency-selective
with Gradient dephasing 180 pulse; spins affected by the
inversion are not rephased
A non-selective inversion follow ed by a
slice-selective inversion. The slice to be
imaged is therefore returned to
equilibrium. Inverted blood flow s into
BB Black Blood
the slice and and an image is acquired
at the null point of blood
magnetisation recovery (no signal from
blood: "black" blood)
Data acquisition tool for cardiac MRI
BEAT not an acronym (?)
exams
BFFE Balanced Fast Field Echo see bSSFP
Temporary suspension of chest-w all
movement, to prevent motion artefacts
BH Breath Hold propagating across the phase
encoding direction of an MR image.
Particularly important in cardiac MRI
BLADE not an acronym (?) see PROPELLER
Method for acceleration of dynamic
imaging. Low -resolution temporal
training data are used to undo aliasing
from a temporally undersampled (i.e.
(k-t) Broad-use Linear
accelerated) acquisition, in cine or
BLAST Acquisition Speed-up
dynamic imaging. Acquisition of the
Technique
training data may be interleaved or in
a separate scan. Suitable for quasi-
periodic motion. A multiple-element
receiver coil is not required
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
3D fat-suppressed spoiled turbo
gradient-echo w ith parallel imaging,
isotropic voxels, and SPAIR fat
BLISS BiLateral Imaging in
suppression, for use in DCE breast
Sagittal view with SENSE studies. 4D-BLISS denotes use of
Keyhole and CENTRA for faster
dynamic scan times. Cf VIBRANT,
VIEW S
Reduction of T2* in tissues due to
build up of deoxyhaemoglobin (w hich
Blood Oxygen Level
BOLD is paramagnetic) during high oxygen
Dependent [effect]
demand. Resultant signal loss can be
related to perfusion
Units of heart rate (cardiac frequency).
BPM (heart) Beats Per Minute
E.g. 60 bpm
Offline, 3D correction for motion
BReast Acquisition artifacts during dynamic imaging in MR
BRACE
CorrEction mammography. A non-rigid body /
w arping registration
Fast IR-prepared 3D gradient echo,
BRAVO BRAin VOlume imaging
high isotropic resolution
BREAst Spectroscopy A TE-averaged, single-voxel PRESS
BREASE
Exam spectroscopy acquisition
Generic name for balanced gradient
echo sequence in w hich both SSFP-FID
and SSFP-echo signals are measured.
The integral of the gradient area in
each TR interval must be the zero, or
banding in images results from
balanced Steady State overlapping (and interference) of the
bSSFP Free Precession SSFP-FID and SSFP-echo. Additional
requirements include TR T2, and RF
excitation pulses must be phase
coherent (or sign-alternated). Contrast
w eighting is according to the ratio
T2/T1. Also know n as BFFE, FIESTA,
TrueFISP
BTFE Balanced Turbo Field Echo see bSSFP
a range of frequencies, may be
referring to transmit bandw idth (range
of frequencies in RF pulse) or receiver
BW BandWidth
bandw idth (range of frequencies
deemed to be on-resonance in signal
reception)
BWA Body Wrap Around coil
Improves on the SPAMM method in
cardiac MRI, to prevent fading of the
Complementary SPAtial
black tagging lines (from T1 recovery)
C-SPAMM Modulation of
through the cardiac cycle. Uses more
Magnetisation
than one NSA and image subtraction.
See SPAMM
RF excitation of more than one 2D slice
at the same time. Also know n as
multiband, or simultaneous multiple
Controlled Aliasing in
slice excitation. The reconstructed
CAIPIRINHA Parallel Imaging Results in
image from multiple slices is
Higher Acceleration
overlapped; CAIPIRINHA describes the
basic idea of applying a phase shift to
ease the unfolding
Used in 'CARE Bolus' in CE-MRA, in
w hich the centre of k-space is sampled
Combined Applications to as quickly as possible (3D elliptic-
CARE
Reduce Exposure centric k-space ordering) immediately
after contrast reaches a region of
interest (monitored on rapid 2D scans)
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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
See ASL; Inversion of arterial blood
occurs continuously. Can result in high
energy deposition and SAR limitation
may be a problem, and so long
rectangular RF pulses can be
substituted for a series of short hard
Continuous Arterial Spin RF pulses. The control image is
CASL
Labeling acquired w ith a tag distal to the
imaging slice (it's proximal in the
tagged image) to have no tagging
effect but to provide the same eddy
currrent conditions and magnetisation
transfer effects. Also know n as steady-
state ASL, or flow driven ASL
Use of ECG timing to adjust phase
CCOMP Cardiac COMPensation encoding to minimise pulsatile motion
artfacts
Use of exogenous contrast agent. E.g.
in CE-MRA, the T1 shortening effect of
CE Contrast Enhanced
a bolus of contrast agent is used to
provide contrast in flow ing blood
ky-kz space is divided into a central
and a peripheral sector. A random
profile order is used in the central
Contrast ENhanced sector first, to coincide w ith contrast
CENTRA Timing Robust arrival, follow ed by a low -high profile
Angiography order in the peripheral sector. Data
from the peripheral sector is copied
back to dynamics in w hich only the
central sector w as acquired
Cardiac Frequency, in
CF Heart rate. See also BPM
beats/minute
A 3D inflow technique for MRA to see
small/tortuous vessels. The 3D volume
is divided into overlapping sub-
CHunk Acquisition and volumes (or chunks), w hich are
CHARM
Reconstruction Method temporally interleaved for acquisition.
The borders of the chunks are merged
during reconstruction into one total
volume
RF pulses tailored to excite protons in
a particular resonant frequency range.
This range can be narrow ed so that
the RF pulse affects only w ater, or only
fat. This w orks better at higher field
strengths w here these resonant
CHEmical Shift Selective
CHESS frequencies are more separated. Good
pulses
magnet (B0) homogeneity is required
to make this frequency-selective
excitation effective, and so techniques
based on frequency-selective
excitation are more effective over
smaller fields-of-view
Tool on the MR console, w hich creates
a directory from w hich a remote
Clinical Image Extraction
CIET manufacturer-engineer may pull
Tool
images for analysis. Notes may be
added by the user
A technique generically know n as
multi-acquisition SSFP, used to
suppress banding artefact at the cost
of doubling scan time. Tw o sequential
acquisitions, one w ith sign alternation
Constructive Interference of RF excitation pulses and one
CISS
in Steady State w ithout; band locations are shifted
betw een the images by one-half of the
period of the banding and so a
maximum-intensity combination of the
images removes the banding. Also
know n as FIESTA-C
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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Fat suppression by centering on the
CL CLassic fat suppression
w ater peak. See CHESS
Homogeneity correction using coil
Constant LEvel sensitivity maps acquired in a
CLEAR
AppeaRance reference scan. Cf PURE (or on
Siemens, 'Prescan Normalize')
CLIQ Clinical Image Quality
Cycled MultiSlice
CMSMP
MultiPhase
The difference betw een the signal
betw een tw o (selected) tissues in an
CNR Contrast-to-noise ratio
image, divided by the noise in the
image. Important for clinical utility
The central nervous system (CNS) is
the part of the nervous system that
integrates the information that it
receives from, and coordinates the
CNS Central nervous system
activity of, all parts of the body. It
contains the majority of the nervous
system and consists of the brain and
the spinal cord
bSSFP-based sequence, w ith modified
elliptic-centric k-space filling, and
Coherent Oscillatory oscillatory flip angle sw eeps before
State acquisition for the and after data acquisition to move in
COSMIC
Manipulation of Imaging and out of the steady state quickly to
Contrast allow T1 recovery periods. Provides
mixed (T2/T1)-w eighted and T2-
w eighted contrast
A circularly polarized electromagnetic
w ave consists of tw o perpendicular
electromagnetic plane w aves of equal
amplitude and 90 difference in phase.
To illustrate: Hold a piece of string.
CP Circularly Polarized
Move the end of the string in a circle.
The resulting w ave is said to be
circularly polarized. Each bit of the
string moves in a transverse circle, but
the w ave still moves dow n the string
Image created from the real part of
the complex image data (Re, Im),
corrected for phase changes. T1
contrast is increased using IR, if the
sign of the (recovering) longitudinal
magnetisation can be preserved after
the excitation pulse. How ever, due to
a variety of factors, as soon as the
excitation pulse rotates longitudinal
CR Corrected Real magnetisation into the transverse
plane, phase errors accumulate and
the phase w hich could have been used
to determine the polarity of the
longitudinal magnetisation is obscured.
Phase-sensitive techniques allow the
recovery of the original polarity, and
hence the w hole dynamic range of
signal (2*M0 ) can be used,
enhancing T1 contrast. See also PSIR
Cardiac Resonance
CRM
Module
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
In the frequency-encode direction, the
MRI scanner uses the (precessional)
frequency of the MR signal to indicate
spatial position in the frequency
encoding direction. The different
electron (i.e. chemical) environments of
CS Chemical Shift molecules in w hich resonant protons
reside can shield (or deshield) the
external magnetic field. If protons
experience changing magnetic fields,
their frequency of precession w ill
change (cf. the Larmor equation). This
is chemical shift
CS Contiguous Slice Slices w ith no gaps betw een them
Allow s the flip angle of a tissue
Chemical Saturation saturation pulse to be altered (as a
CSA
Amplitude percentage). Part of the manual
prescan
A clear bodily fluid that occupies the
subarachnoid space and the
CSF CerebroSpinal Fluid
ventricular system around and inside
the brain and spinal cord
Allow s the frequency of a tissue
CSF Chemical Saturation saturation pulse to be altered. Part of
Frequency the manual prescan
Multi-voxel spectroscopy; phase
CSI Chemical Shift Imaging encoding in 2D (no frequency
encoding)
Chemical Saturation A prescan function for a CHESS pulse
CSTun
Tuning (see CSF, CSA)
Synchonisation of data acquisition to a
point in the cardiac cycle, by a
CT Cardiac Triggering
consistent measurement delay after
each R-w ave (trigger delay)
Different regions (curvatures) of the
CTL Cervical Thoracic Lumbar
vertebral column
Cube not an acronym See SPACE. Cf also VISTA, [3D] VIEW
Pulse sequence parameter w hich
allow s a finer control over protocol
CV Control Variable
behaviour. Often used in research
applications
Temporal change of the MR signal
Dynamic Contrast
DCE using contrast agent introduced into
Enhanced
the body
Dummy acquisitions in echo trains that
DDAS DisableD AcquisitionS allow time for magnetisation to evolve
closer to to a steady state condition
Extra T2-w eighting using a
DE Driven Equilibrium 90[x] 180[y] 90[-x] preparation
pulse
In-phase and out-of-phase images
from one acquisition / breath hold
DE Dual Echo
(w ater-only and fat-only images are
not calculated)
As bSSFP, but w ith a very long readout
gradient w hich separates the SSFP-FID
and SSFP-echo such that they do not
Double Echo Steady interfere w ith each other. The tw o
DESS
State echoes can be used to form separate
images, or combined. Not the same as
dual-echo gradient-echo, w hich
refocuses the same FID tw ice
DFOV Display Field-of-View
A standard for handling, storing,
Digital Imaging and printing, and transmitting information
DICOM Communications in in medical imaging. It includes a file
Medicine format definition and a netw ork
communications protocol
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Implementation of Dixon's method of
acquiring in-phase and out-of-phase
images (i.e. 2 echoes) and calculating
Dixon not an acronym
w ater-only and fat-only images. Cf
mDIXON, LAVA-Flex, VIBRANT-Flex,
IDEAL
Guidance for w orkflow s, customisable
Dot Day Optimizing automated protocol selection, some
Throughput automated parameter prescription
Fast return of transverse
magnetisation to the longitudinal
direction in a spin echo pulse
sequence. Quickens return to
equilibrium magnetisation. Also know n
as Fast Recovery (FR). Allow s T2-
DRIVE DRIVen Equilibrium w eighted imaging w ith shorter TR (and
shorter scan time), increasing signal
w hen TR is much le ss tha n T1. Cf also
FRFSE, RESTORE. (Driven equilibrium
for gradient echo is a different method,
employing a 90[x] 180[y] 90[-x] T2-
preparation pulse.)
Repeated scanning in order to
synchronise data acquisition w ith a
DS Dynamic Scan physiological motion or process, or to
capture evolution of signal changes
(e.g. contrast uptake)
Observation of signal intensity
Dynamic Susceptibility
DSC changes over time due to arrival and
Contrast imaging
w ashout or contrast agent
Spin echo w ith tw o 180 refocusing
pulse to acquire tw o echoes per
excitation. Data from the second echo
are separately stored and
reconstructed to form a separate
DSE Dual Spin Echo
image w ith a longer TE. Crusher
gradients around the second
refocusing RF pulse must differ from
those around the first, to avoid
stimulated echo artefacts
Volume over w hich field homogeneity
Diameter of Spherical may be specified (cm); the field
DSV
Volume homogeneity is usually quoted in ppm
using VRMS
First see DW I. If multiple diffusion
w eighted images are acquired w ith the
diffusion gradients oriented in a
different direction for each DW I image
(to sample the diffusion in multiple
directions), a 3D picture of diffusion at
a particular point in tissue can be
created. This information is called the
DTI Diffusion Tensor Imaging
diffusion tensor (think of an ellipsoid,
the shape of w hich describes the
probability of the position to w hich
molecule at that location w ill diffuse).
DTI information can be summarised in
parametric maps and can be used to
infer connectivity betw een parts of the
brain

DTP Dense Temporal

Packaging
You know , a DVD. Optical recordable
DVD Digital Versatile Disc
media
DW Diffusion Weighted See DW I
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Application of a strong gradient causes
dephasing of spins. Application of an
identical gradient opposite to the first
reverses that dephasing, except
w here motion along the gradient
direction has occurred. This causes
DWI Diffusion Weighted
signal loss, and an image acquired
Imaging w ith these strong gradients turned on
prior to data acquisition is a diffusion
w eighted image. In apparently
stationary tissue, diffusion of w ater
molecules along the direction of the
diffusion gradients causes signal loss,
seen on a diffusion w eighted image
Diffusion Weighted whole
body Imaging with body Multi-station w hole-body DW I w ith
DWIBS
Background signal STIR fat suppression
Suppression
A transthoracic interpretation of the
electrical activity of the heart over time
ECG ElectroCardioGram
captured and externally recorded by
skin electrodes
Used in reference to compliance w ith
relevant international and national law
EMC ElectroMagnetic and standards on electromagnetic
Compatibility compatibility for MRI equipment w hen
used as intended
Allow s arms-dow n imaging for large
FOV 3D FFE or 3D TFE in the coronal
plane. Normally oversampling is used
to remove aliasing from arms, but
residual aliasing signal can occur
ENhanced Coronal (curved local dark/bright fringes,
ENCASE Acquisition with Sagittal sometimes called "flame" artefact).
Excitation ENCASE moves the RF excitation from
the slice direction to the phase
direction. The w idth of the excited
volume is thus restricted to the
encoded volume of interest, excluding
the arms
Rapid changes of frequency-encoding
gradient polarity to refocus the MR
echo many times after a single RF spin
excitation, w ith a small change in
phase encoding for each echo. One of
EPI Echo Planar Imaging
the fastest methods of acquiring MRI
k-space data. If all data for an image is
acquired after one RF excitation, it is
single-shot EPI, in w hich each slice is
acquired in one TR

EPIC Environment for Pulse

General Electric's pulse programming
programming In C environment for research use
The LCD display in the magnet room
(often on the magnet), for display of
ERD Examination Room
VCG trace and other information for in-
Display room monitoring and limited scanner
operation (e.g. for cardiac
pharmacological stress)
Temporal spacing betw een
ESP Echo Spacing consecutive echo acquisitions in an
echo train
Multiple refocused echoes after a
ET Echo-Train
single RF excitation (i.e. in one TR)
See THRIVE. eTHRIVE provides
improved SNR, CNR and sharpness
Enhanced T1 High over THRIVE by adjusting the k-space
eTHRIVE Resolution Isotropic profile order and using partial Fourier
Volume Excitation in kz. Asymmetric profile order is used
w hich leads to improved fat
suppression and better contrast timing
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Number of refocused echoes after a
ETL Echo-Train Length
single RF excitation (i.e. in one TR)
See ASL. An ASL method in w hich the
labelled image employs a slice
selective 180 on the imaging slice,
and the control image employs a non-
FAIR Flow-sensitive Alternating selective 180 pulse. There is virtually
Inversion Recovery
no sensitivity to arterial inflow in the
control image. Several variations on
the basic FAIR technique have been
developed
FATSAT FAT SATuration See SPIR
FC Flow Compensation See GMN
FE Field Echo Gradient echo
FFE Fast Field Echo See SSFP-FID
An efficient algorithm to compute the
discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and its
inverse. A DF T decomposes a
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
sequence of values (e.g. a digitised MR
signal) into components of different
frequencies
FGRE Fast GRadient Echo As TurboFLASH but w ithout RF spoiling
Along the bore of the magnet, normal
FH Foot-to-Head direction
to the transverse plane
An oscillating decaying MRI signal in
the transverse plane, w hich w ill induce
FID Free Induction Decay
a voltage in appropriately placed
receiver equipment
Fast Imaging Employing
FIESTA see bSSFP
Steady sTate Acquisition
Fast Imaging Employing
FIESTA-C Steady sTate Acquisition see CISS
with phase Cycling
FISP Fast Imaging with See SSFP-FID
Steady-state Precession
FLAG FLow Adjusted Gradients Flow compensation. See FC
Inversion recovery (IR) w ith a long
FLuid Attenuated
FLAIR inversion time (TI), at the null point of
Inversion Recovery
fluid (no signal from fluid). See IR
Gradient echo w ith RF-spoiling (by
phase cycling) and gradient spoiling,
FLASH Fast Low Angle SHot and w ith low flip angles. As SSFP-FID
w ith additional RF spoiling. Also know n
as T1-FFE, SPGR
FMP Fast MultiPlanar Multi-slice sequence. E.g. "FMP GRE"
Detection of brain activation via the
BOLD effect. Oxygenation levels at the
site of brain activity are modulated
fMRI functional Magnetic (using a paradigm, e.g. finger tapping
Resonance Imaging
and resting), and signal changes may
be correlated. Signal changes due to
activation are only a few percent
2D spatially-selective echo-panar (in
excitation k-space) RF excitation pulse
FOCUS not an acronym ? reduces the excitation volume in both
the phase encoding and slice select
directions
Prevention of aliasing from tissue
outside of the FOV w rapping into the
FOS Fold-over Suppression image. Regional saturation (REST) is
used for NSA=1, phase oversampling is
used for NSA>1
FOV Field Of View The area or volume to be imaged
Fast Recovery Fast Spin
FRFSE See DRIVE. Cf also RESTORE
Echo
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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
A fat-saturation method has been
FS Fat Saturated
applied
FSE Fast Spin Echo see RARE
FSPGR Fast SPoiled GRASS See FLASH
All echoes are acquired after one RF
FT Full echo Train
excitation. A single shot
An expression of the extent of a
function, given by the difference
betw een the tw o extreme values of
FWHM Full Width Half Maximum the independent variable (x-axis) at
w hich the dependent variable (on the
y-axis) is equal to half of its maximum
value
The cgs unit of measurement of a
magnetic field B (magnetic flux
G Gauss (e.g. 0.5mT = 5G)
density). In SI units, tesla is used. One
tesla is equal to 10 4 gauss
Display of signal curve created by
GBP Global Bolus Plot contrast bolus along a time axis, in
dynamic perfusion imaging
GE General Electric MR system manufacturer
Basic pulse sequence in w hich signal is
dephased and refocused by a gradient
GE Gradient Echo only. GRE is commonly used instead to
avoid confusion w ith an MR system
manufacturer. See SSFP-FID
Parallel imaging reconstruction
GEM General Encoding Matrix method. Uses variable-density k-space
sampling for auto-calibration
Geometry Embracing
GEM Flexible receive surface-coils
Method
fMRI (BOLD) data analysis method.
Parameter estimates are made
indicating the strength of activation
GLM General Linear Model
(according to a defined paradigm) and
strength of confounds. A statistical
parameter mapping method
Application of binomial gradient
w aveforms to reduce flow effects. Also
know n as gradient moment rephasing
(GMR), or simply flow compensation.
Zeroth-order GMN rephases static
spins after the application of a
gradient. First-order GMN is velocity
GMN Gradient Moment Nulling
compensation. Second-order GMN is
acceleration compensation. The
appropriateness of flow compensation
(i.e. first-order GMN w ith higher orders
optional) depends on the application.
E.g. in CE-MRA a shorter TE is more
important
Gradient Motion
GMR See GMN
Rephasing
GRACE GeneRAlized breast Single volume spectoscopy in breast
speCtroscopy Exam
Parallel imaging method. Self-
Generalized
calibrating. Calculations to unw rap
GRAPPA Autocalibrating Partial
image aliasing are made in the k-space
Parallel Acquisition
domain. Part of iPAT
A turbo spin echo sequence, in w hich
the collection of one line of k-space
after each 180-degree refocusing
pulse is replaced by a short EPI echo
GRASE GRadient And Spin Echo
train. More echoes are collected per
unit time. GRASE overcomes some of
the limitations of TSE and EPI, but also
inherits many of the problems of both
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Gradient Recalled
GRASS Acquisition in the Steady See SSFP-FID
State
Basic pulse sequence in w hich signal is
dephased and refocused by a gradient
GRE Gradient Echo only. Uses a low excitation flip angle
and the TR may be very short. See
SSFP-FID
A special k-space order: a sw eep
through k-space in only part of the
GS Gated Sweep
cardiac cycle (during a "gate"). Used in
gated phase-contrast angiography
GSP Graphical Slice Positioning
All k-space lines acquired in a single
shot TSE. Echo spacing is minimised
(e.g. increased receiver bandw idth,
shorter 180 pulses (low er than 180
or a degraded slice profile)), and
Half-Fourier Acquired
partial ("half") Fourier is used to
HASTE Single-shot Turbo spin
reduce the number of k-space lines to
Echo
be acquired, reducing the shot length.
Used for T2-w eighted imaging of the
abdomen (e.g. MRCP), freezing
abdominal motion (e.g. bow el). Cf
SSFSE, SSh
The time betw een tw o R peaks in an
HBI Heart Beat Interval ECG trace. The R-R interval. Equal to
60000/(heart rate) (ms)
Print-out of MR images, usually to plain
HC Hard Copy
film
Optional image post-processing
function w hich compensates for
gradually decreasing contrast changes
across the FOV. Multiple parameters
HC Homogeneity Correction are available allow ing the selection of
the type of homogeneity correction
(using surface coil sensitivity maps
(see CLEAR) or not), or to turn
homoeneity correction off
Marketing term alluding to improved
HD High Definition
image resolution
Direction normal to an axial
HF Head-to-Foot direction
(transverse) slice through the patient
General purpose large aperture
magnet w ith a vertical field (allow ing
higher efficiency surface coils than
traditional phased array coils). E.g.
HFO High-Field Open 160cm w ide aperture, 1.0T. Every
anatomy can be placed at isocentre
due to the larger space. May be
preferred by
anxious/claustrophobic/large patients
Use of focused ultrasound w aves to
heat tissue deep inside the body
w ithout damaging intervening tissue
(e.g. the treatment of uterine fibroids
on an outpatient basis). W hen
HIFU High Intensity Focused combined w ith MRI, the HIFU system is
Ultrasound
embedded in the MRI bed and is
activated w hilst the patient is in the
MRI scanner, and MRI can provide real-
time visual feedback of the progress of
the tissue ablation. Cf also MRgFUS
An integrated information system
HIS Hospital Information
designed to manage the
System administrative, financial and clinical
aspects of a hospital
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
The static magnetic field (B0) is
distorted by the presence of a patient.
Fine adjustment of the magnetic field
is performed to restore B0
homogeneity and maximise the signal
received. This is B0 shimming. The
complexity of the shimming performed
is in the shape of the magnetic field
gradients w hich are used to correct
the B0 field (this is a separate process
from frequency- and phase-encoding).
HOS Higher Order Shimming
The simplest shimming gradient is a
linear gradient in the x, y or z
direction. How ever more complicated
gradients can be applied in w hich
gradient curves are used, described by
more complicated equations w ith
higher (polynomial) order terms, such
as second-order z 2 , x2 -y2 , zy, zx, 2xy.
This is HOS, used in higher field
systems (3T+). At very high field (e.g.
7T), 3rd order B0 shimming is used
HR High Resolution
A partial Fourier method in w hich just
over half of k-space is acquired (in the
k dimension in w hich halfscan is
applied: ky or kz). More than half of k-
space is acquired because the centre
of k-space must be fully sampled to
HS HalfScan
provide reliable correction for phase
errors. Conjugate symmetry of k-space
is used to synthesise unacquired k-
space lines. Scan time is reduced,
resolution is maintained, SNR is
reduced. Aka Half Fourier. Cf 0.5 NEX
The SI unit of frequency defined as the
Hz Hertz number of cycles per second of a
periodic phenomenon
Marketing name for fluoroscopic
contrast arrival method in w hich
IA Infusion Angiography imaging is started after signal passes
a threshold in a user-defined ROI. See
MRA
Real-time scanning user interface, in
w hich fast real-time images may be
IA InterActive continuously acquired w hich respond
immediately to changes in planning
geometry
Siemens' image
ICE Image Calculation production/reconstruction environment
Environment
for research use
Integrated Development Siemens' pulse programming
IDEA Environment for
environment for research use
Applications
3-echo Dixon technique for fat and
Iterative Decomposition w ater separation w ith focus on noise
IDEAL of water and fat with
performance. Can be used w ith
Echo Asymmetry and gradient echo-based and spin-echo
Least-squares estimation based methods. Cf Dixon, mDIXON,
LAVA/VIBRANT-Flex
As IDEAL but w ith improved w ater-fat
(triglyceride) separation by (i)
estimating and correcting for T2*
decay betw een echoes, (ii) more
accurately modelling the spectral
IDEAL IQ see IDEAL profile of triglyceride fat w ith multiple
peaks rather than a single peak. A low
excitation flip angle is used to reduce
T1 effects. Fat fraction and T2* maps
are produced in addition to images
produced w ith IDEAL
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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
A global organization that publishes
consensus-based International
International
Standards and manages conformity
IEC Electrotechnical
assessment systems for electric and
Commission
electronic products, systems and
services
No difference betw een tw o points in
IP In Phase
the time of a cyclical motion or process
Marketing term referring to the
simultaneous connection of multiple
coils on the patient table, and the
IPA Integrated Panorama manual selection of particular coil
Array
elements from those coils (see IPP), to
reduce the need for receiver-coil
changes in multi-exam studies
iPAT denotes parallel imaging, but it is
not a specific parallel imaging method.
iPAT integrated Parallel Instead, w ithin iPAT the parallel
Accquisition Techniques
imaging method is chosen (GRAPPA,
mSENSE)
integrated Parallel Parallel imaging acceleration in tw o
iPAT2 Accquisition Techniques in phase encoding directions of a 3D
2 dimensions acquisition. See iPAT
Remote selection of individual coil
IPP Integrated Panoramic elements from the user interface. See
Positioning IPA
A 180 preparation pulse w hich inverts
longitudinal magnetisation.
Magnetisation recovers according to
the (different) T1s of tissues. Imaging
then occurs after the inversion delay
time (TI). The TI may be set at the null
IR Inversion Recovery
point of a specific tissue (short for fat,
long for fluid), or to maximise contrast
betw een tw o tissues. Note that due to
the fact that partial recovery w ill have
occurred for most tissues at TI, image
contrast is modified
A magnitude reconstruction of an
IRM Inversion Recovery
inversion recovery image, (as opposed
Magnitude to real image, corrected-real image
(see PSIR), phase image, etc

IROI Irregular Region Of User-defined shape for a ROI

Interest
Direction normal to an axial
IS Inferior-to-Superior (transverse) slice through the patient,
direction
from foot up to head
3D single voxel localisation scheme
usually used in 31P spectroscopy.
ISIS Image Selected In vivo Subtractions betw een 8 acquisition
Spectroscopy
setups are used to determine the FID
of a 3D voxel
ISO ISOtropic voxels Same size in all three orthogonal axes
Interactive Vascular Post-processing tool used to create
IVI
Imaging MIPs from MRA acquisitions
K-space domain and Time
k-t e.g. k-t BLAST
domain
3D spoiled fast/turbo gradient echo
LAVA Liver Acquisition with
w ith partial Fourier in kz. Used in
Volume Acceleration abdomen and pelvis (not just liver). Cf
eTHRIVE, VIBE
LAVA w ith 2-echo Dixon w ater-fat
LAVA-Flex Liver Acquisition with
separation, see LAVA and see Dixon).
Volume Acceleration Uses ARC parallel imaging. Cf Dixon,
mDIXON, IDEAL
Liver Acquisition with LAVA w ith parallel imaging, see GEM.
LAVA-XV Volume Acceleration -
Cf eTHRIVE, VIBE
eXtended Volume
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Philips Siemens GE
Gradient reversal fat suppression. Fat
suppression method for spin echo
(usually DW I) at higher field strengths.
If the gradient applied w ith the
refocusing RF pulse has a reversed
polarity compared to the gradient
applied w ith the excitation RF pulse,
LIPO not an acronym but
any through-plane chemical shift of fat
connotes removal of fat
signal w ill occur in the opposite
direction. At higher field strengths
(w here the shift is far enough, 3T+),
off-resonant fat does not receive both
the excitation and refocusing pulses,
and so does not contribute to the spin
echo
Small-FOV technique in TSE, in w hich
orthogonal slice selection for the 90
spin excitation and 180 refocusing
pulses is used. No spin echo is formed
LOLO LOcal LOok
from the rest of the anatomy because
it doesn't receive both RF pulses.
Sometimes called ZOOM imaging,
originally called inner volume imaging
LOTA Long Term Averaging
Confinement of the magnetic (or
LP Linearly Polarized electric) field vector to a given plane
along the direction of propagation
Removes phase errors in quantitative
flow imaging w ith an optimized spatial
LPC Local Phase Correction low pass filter to subtract the
background offset w hich is mainly
caused by residual eddy currents
Frame of reference for user-defined
LPH Left-Posterior-Head diffusion encoding directions. See also
MPS and XYZ
Direction normal to an sagittal slice
LR Left-to-Right direction
through the patient

M2D Multiple (sequential) 2D

2D slices acquired sequentially, data
slices acquisition not interleaved
Creation of multiple image contrasts
from a single MRI scan, using Bloch
simulation. Contrast of images can be
MAGiC
changed after the scan by synthetically
changing acquisition parameters such
as TR, TE and TI. See SyMRI.com
MAP Multi-Angle Projection
Pulse sequence optimisation to
achieve metal-artefact minimisation
MARS Metal Artefact Reduction (e.g. increase receiver bandw idth, etc;
Sequences
more info here). Not a specific method
or product

MART Modulated Angle

Refocusing Train
MAST Motion Artifact
Suppression Technique
Method to mitigate image arefacts
caused w hen imaging in the presence
of metal implants. Multiple acquisitions
Multi-Acquisition with are acquired w ith different frequency
Variable Resonances
MAVRIC SL offsets, and the resultant range of off-
Image Combination, SLab resonance images are summed at
selective
each slice location. A spectrally-
correlated deblurring technique is
applied to the final composite image
MC MultiChunk
MC MultiConnect
Multi Directional Diffusion
MDDW
Weighting
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Philips Siemens GE
Late Gadolinium Enhancement (LGE).
W ashout of injected contrast agent is
slow er in necrotic tissue. About 15
minutes after injection that tissue is
Myocardial Delayed
MDE enhanced compared to normal
Enhancement myocardium. A 2D segmented
inversion recovery (IR) gradient echo
sequence is usually used, or a PSIR
acquisition
A 3D spoiled turbo gradient echo
method, using 2-echo Dixon w ater and
fat separation, w ith modifications
mDIXON modified DIXON w hich allow more flexibility in selection
of TEs than standard Dixon methods.
CF Dixon, LAVA-Flex, VIBRANT-Flex,
IDEAL
See mDIXON. For mDIXON FFE (FFE =
gradient echo) "XD" refers to
extension to all body areas, by use of
a 7-peak fat model and correction for
B0 variation in large fields of view .
mDIXON XD modified DIXON Shorter minimum echo spacing is
allow ed, echo-times optimisation is
improved. mDIXON XD allow s
subtractionless contrast-enhanced
magnetic resonance angiography (CE-
MRA)
ME Myocardial Evaluation
Multi-Echo Data-Image
MEDIC
Combination
MEGA Mescher-Garwood
MEMP Multi-Echo Multi-Planar

MENSA Multi-Echo iN Steady-

state Acquisition
Morphology Enhanced
MEPPS Probabilistic Plaque
Segmentation
Multi-Echo Recombined
MERGE
Gradient Echo
MID Multiple Image Display

MIP Maximum Intensity

Projection
mIP Minimum Intensity
Projection
MNS Multi-Nuclear
Spectroscopy
MOD Magnetic Optical Disk
Multiple Optimizations
MOIST Insensitive Suppression
Train
Method of cardiac T1 mapping in a
breath hold w hich provides high-
precision, and w ith careful
optimisation, good accuracy. A
sequence of single-shot balanced SSFP
images are acquired, one-per-
heartbeat, after an inversion recovery
MOLLI Modified Look-Locker
preparation pulse. More images are
Inversion Recovery acquired after subsequent inversion
pulses. All images acquired are used in
a single recovery-curve data set from
w hich a T1 map is calculated. If images
are acquired after administration of
contrast agent as w ell, the
extracellular volume (ECV) can be
calculated

MOTSA Multiple Overlapping Thin

Slab Angiography
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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Philips Siemens GE
MP Magnetisation Prepared
Magnetization Prepared
MP-RAGE RApid Gradient Echo
Imaging
Multi-Planar Gradient
MPGR
Recalled
Modality Performed
MPPS
Procedure Step
MPR Multi-Planar Reformat
Allow s manual adjustment of centre
MPS Manual PreScan frequency, transmit gain and receiver
gain
Encoding directions in the image frame
MPS Measurement/Phase/Slice
of reference

MPVR Multi-Projection Volume

Reconstruction
MR Magnetic Resonance
Visualisation of blood flow w ithin
MRA MR Angiography vessels by using the flow sensitivity of
MRI. See TOF, PC, CE
Magnetic Resonance An examination of the bile ducts and
MRCP Cholangio-
pancreas using MRI
Pancreatography
Evaluation of tissue stiffness. Motion
encoding gradients are synchronized
w ith a mechanical source of vibration
MRE Magnetic Resonance
applied to the patient. The amplitude
Elastography of the shear w ave in the tissue is
encoded in the phase of the MRI
image, and a tissue stiffness map may
be calculated
MR Guided Focused
MRgFUS See HIFU
Ultrasound
Magnetic Resonance
MRI
Imaging
MRS MR spectroscopy

MRSI Magnetic Resonance

Spectroscopic Imaging
MS Multiple (temporally
interleaved) Slices
MSE Modified Spin Echo
Sensitivity encoding (see SENSE)
variant using additional autocalibration
mSENSE modified SENSitivity k-space lines instead of a dedicated
Encoding scan to acquire coil sensitivity
information
MultiShot Turbo Spin
MSh-TSE
Echo
MSMA Multi-Slice Multi-Angle
MSMG Multi-Slice Multi-Group
MSMP MultiSlice MultiPhase
MST Multiple Stack
MT Moving Table

MTC Magnetisation Transfer

Contrast
MTR Magnetisation Transfer
Ratio
MTT Mean Transit Time
MultiVane not an acronym see PROPELLER
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
XD denotes a significantly improved
method for blade corrections
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrm.24929)
compared to original PROPELLER (see
PROPELLER). No reference blade is
used, and no iterations are required;
MultiVane not an acronym linear equations for the relative shift
XD betw een each pair of blades are
formed and the entire system of
equations is solved at once.
Compatibility w ith SENSE parallel
imaging is also added for higher
acquisition speeds
Vector component of net
Mxy Magnetisation in the x-y magnetisation in a plane orthogonal to
plane
the direction of the main magnetic field
Vector component of net
Mz Magnetisation in the z magnetisation in the direction of the
direction main magnetic field

NATIVE Non-contrast MRA of

ArTerIes and VEins
National Electrical
NEMA Manufacturers See nema.org
Association
W hen NEX > 1, NEX denotes the
number of repetitions of data
acquisition, for signal averaging (cf
ACQ, NSA). Non-integer NEX > 1 is also
allow ed, e.g. 1.5 NEX means all of k-
NEX Number of Excitations space and then the centre 50% again.
W hen NEX < 1, NEX denotes partial
Fourier in the in-plane phase encoding
direction (a separate parameter on
other systems, e.g. Halfscan, Half
Fourier), e.g. 0.5 NEX

NIBP Non-Invasive Blood

Pressure
The precession of the net
magnetisation vector w hen it is out of
alignment w ith the external magnetic
field. The precessing net
magnetisation generates an oscillating
NMR Nuclear Magnetic magnetic field w hich is measured in
Resonance
appropriately placed signal detection
equipment. For a particular magnetic
field strength the (resonant) frequency
of precession can be calculated via the
Larmor equation
Spectroscopy method in w hich an
additional sequence is executed
before the pulse sequence to saturate
NOE Nuclear Overhauser Effect a difference nucleus; sensitivity of the
measurement nucleus is enhanced due
to polarization transfer via cross
relaxation
NPW No Phase Wrap
Number of repetitions of data
Number of Signals
NSA acquisition, for signal averaging. Cf
Averaged ACQ, NEX

O-MAR Orthopedic Metal Artefact See VAT

Reduction
As O-MAR but w ith added correction of
O-MAR XD Orthopedic Metal Artefact through-plane distortion using SEMAC.
Reduction
See VAT, SEMAC
og Gradient overplus
OP Out-of-Phase

OVS Outer Volume See REST

Suppression
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PA Post-Acquisition

PA Posterior-to-Anterior
Back to front direction, normal to the
direction coronal plane

PA Pulse-Acquire
(spectroscopy)
PACC Prostate Analytical Coil
Correction
PACE Prospective Acquisition Cf PMC
CorrEction
PACS Picture Archiving and
Communications System
Philips Advanced
Research And
Philips' pulse programming
PARADISE Development Integrated
environment for research use
Sequence-programming
Environment
PB Pencil Beam

PBP Percentage of Baseline at

Peak
Detection of flow ing blood using the
change of phase introduced by blood
moving along a magnetic field
gradient. Takes longer than TOF-MRA
PC Phase Contrast
because multiple scans w ith different
directional flow sensitivity must be
acquired and then combined. Cf also
MRA, TOF
Modification of the readout gradient
amplitudes in EPI, and additionally the
relative phases of refocusing pulses in
PC Phase Correct FSE (but not if single shot). Corrects
undesired phase shifts such as those
due to eddy currents or mechanical
vibration. A prescan is required

PCA Phase Contrast See Phase Contrast

Angiography
pCASL Pseudo-Continuous
Arterial Spin Labeling
PD Preparation pulse Delay
time
PD Proton Density
PE Partial echo

PEAR Phase Encoded Artifact

Reduction
Precision-Enhanced RF
PERFORM Optimisation, Regulation
and Management
Positron Emmission Combination of PET and MR in one
PET/MR Tomography / Magnetic system, for a composite picture of PET
Resonance and MR soft tissue signal data
PFOV Phase Field-Of-View see RFOV
PG Peripheral Gating
PH Philips Healthcare

PIQT Periodic Image Quality

Test
Pixel PIcture ELement

PMC Prospective Motion Cf PACE

Correction
PMS Philips Medical Systems
(depreciated, see PH)
PNS Peripheral Nerve
Stimulation
PP Peripheral Pulse
PP Preparation Pulse
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Philips Siemens GE
PP Preset Procedure
Pseudo units to describe small
proportions. Just as per cent means
ppm Parts Per Million
out of a hundred, parts per million
means out of a million

PPNS Potential Peripheral Nerve

Stimulation
PPU Peripheral Pulse Unit

PRESS Point RESolved

Spectroscopy
PRinciples of Echo Shifting
PRESTO with a Train of
Observations
Philips Research Image
PRIDE Development
Environment
PRIME Proton Regional Imaging
of MEtabolites
PROBE-P PROton Brain Exam using
PRESS
PROBE-S PROton Brain Exam using
STEAM
In 3D PROMO patient motion is
monitored throughout the scan using a
three-plane spiral image navigators.
PROspective MOtion
PROMO Using image-based ROI tracking the
correction technique scan can adjust to follow the motion
and reacquire motion-corrupted k-
space profiles
Non-Cartesian k-space data
acquisition, in small groups of parallel
lines through the centre of k-space,
the groups rotated w ith respect to
one-another (imagine a rotating
propeller blade). MultiVane and BLADE
are similar sequences. May be used for
Periodically Rotated motion correction in TSE sequences.
Overlapping ParallEL Lines The centre of k-space is sampled in
PROPELLER
with Enhanced every blade: this allow s the low -
Reconstruction resolution images from individual
blades to be compared for in-plane
rotation and translation (w hich can
then be corrected) and through-plane
motion (w hich motivates re-acquisition
of that blade of data). A final high-
resolution image is constructed once
all the blades of data are acquired
PROSE proton PROState Exam
Composite RF pulses; can be used to
produce a signal from only w ater (or
only fat) protons by making use of the
dephasing of fat and w ater. They are
RF pulses made up of a series of
shorter RF pulses w ith small delays
betw een them. They can be quite
complicated, but here is a simple
example to explain the method. First, a
45 excitation pulse flips both fat and
ProSet PRinciple Of Selected w ater. Then after a short time, fat and
Excitation Technique w ater are exactly out of phase (both
still at 45, but w ith opposing
transverse components of
magnetisation, and thus have a 90
angle betw een them). Another 45 RF
pulse is then applied w hich flips the fat
net magnetisation back to Mz, and
puts the w ater magnetisation in the x-
y plane, providing a fat-suppressed
signal
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Philips Siemens GE
PSD Pulse Sequence Definition
PSIF (FISP, read backwards) see SSFP-echo
PSIR enables the large dynamic range
of signal change w hich IR affords
w hilst keeping the observed signal
intensity change of tissues monotonic
w ith increasing TI. In cardiac MRI PSIR
can used for delayed enhancement
(viability); one implementation uses
tw o-beat-IR: the first R-R interval for
PSIR Phase-Sensitive Inversion
data acquisition, the second for
Recovery acquisition of data for use as a phase
reference to correct the data acquired
in the previous heartbeat. Phase-
corrected real images (real as opposed
to imaginary or magnitude, etc) are
produced. In neuro MRI, PSIR provides
stronger GM and W M contrast, w hich is
required for e.g. migration disorder in
neonates. See also CR
Homogeneity correction using coil
PURE Phased array UnifoRmity
sensitivity maps acquired in a
Enhancement reference scan. Cf CLEAR (or on
Siemens, 'Prescan Normalize')
PV Peripheral Vascular

Q Quality factor (of the RF-

coil)
QA Quality Assurance
QBC Quadrature Body Coil
QF/QFlow Quantitative Flow
Non-[contrast] enhanced MRA for
peripheral arteries. An in-plane
saturation pulse suppresses
QISS Quiescent Interval Single
background tissue signal, and a
Shot tracking saturation pulse to suppress
venous signal prior to a quiescent
inflow period. A 2D ECG-gated
balanced SSFP readout follow s

R1 Relaxation rate for T1:

1/T1
R2 Relaxation rate for T2:
1/T2
RADIANT RADial Imaging Around
Nipple or Tumor
RAL ROI, Annotation, Line

RARE Rapid Acquisition with

Relaxation Enhancement
Coordinate system for reference to
RAS Right-Anterior-Superior
anatomy
rBW receiver BandWidth

RC Respiratory
Compensated
RC Respiratory Control
ref REFerence scan
REPP REsearch PrePulse
Multi-shot diffusion-w eighted EPI,
Read-out Segmentation using readout segmentation (collecting
RESOLVE Of Long Variable Echo-
only sub-portions of k-space lines, w ith
trains each shot) and a 2D navigator
Saturation of signal using prepulses to
REST REgional Saturation suppress signal and/or define a
Technique
volume (OVS)
RESTORE not an acronym See DRIVE. Cf also FRFSE
REVEAL not an acronym (?)
RF Radio Frequency
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Philips Siemens GE
Radio Frequency Superior
RF-SMART Management
ARrchiTecture
RFA Reduced Flip Angle
RFE Refocussed Field Echo Spin echo
An increase of line spacing in k-space,
meaning the same k-space extent is
covered (keeping the resolution the
RFOV Rectangular Field-Of-View
same) w ith few er phase encode lines
(so faster, but reduces SNR). AKA:
Asymmetric FOV, Phase FOV
An integrated information system
Radiology Information designed to manage the
RIS
System administrative, financial and clinical
aspects of a radiology department
Direction normal to an sagittal slice
RL Right-to-Left direction
through the patient
ROI Region Of Interest

ROPE Respiratory Ordered

Phase Encoding
The time betw een tw o R peaks in an
RR-INT R-top to R-top interval ECG trace. The R-R interval. Equal to
60000/(heart rate) (ms)
RSL Relative Signal Level
RT Real-Time
RT Respiratory Triggering

RTFA Real-Time Field

Adjustment
Rx prescription

SAGE Spectroscopy Analysis by

General Electric
SAR Specific energy
Absorption Rate
SAT SATuration
SC Secondary Capture
Surface Coil Intensity
SCIC
Correction
SCT SCan Time, scan duration
Basic pulse sequence in w hich signal is
dephased and refocused by a gradient
SE Spin Echo
only. Uses a low excitation flip angle
and the TR may be very short
SEMAC employs additional z-phase
encoding steps to resolve distorted
excitation profiles that cause through-
plane distortions. By positioning all
SEMAC Slice Encoding for Metal spins in a region-of-interest to their
Artifact Correction actual spatial locations, the through-
plane distortions can be corrected by
summing up the resolved spins in each
voxel
Parallel imaging method for
accelerating image acquisition. A
reference scan is acquired prior to
clinical data acquisition to measure coil
sensitivity profiles. Accelerated data
acquisition follow s (lines in k-space are
SENSE SENSitivity Encoding more spaced out; few er lines are
acquired) causing aliasing in images.
Unw rapping of the aliasing is
performed in the image-domain (as
opposed to on the k-space data
before FF T) using the sensitivity data
from the reference scan
SER Signal Enhancement Ratio
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Philips Siemens GE
SHARK SHifting Artefacts
Reordering K-space
Direction normal to an axial
SI Superior-to-Inferior (transverse) slice through the patient,
direction from head dow n to foot

SLD Stereotactic Localisation

Device
SLINKY SLiding INterleaved ky

SMART Serial Motion Artifact

Reduction Technique
SMASH SiMultaneous Acquisition
of Spatial Harmonics
SMC Synergy MultiConnect
SMS Sliding Multi Slice
The ratio of signal pow er to the noise
SNR Signal-to-Noise Ratio
pow er corrupting the signal
3D fast spin echo w hich uses a train of
non-selective refocusing RF pulses
Sampling Perfection with w ith variable flip angles w hich reduces
Application optimized SAR and stores magnetisation for later
SPACE
Contrasts using different in the echo train, allow ing an extended
flip angle Evolution echo train. Used for isotropic
volumetric imaging. Cf also Cube,
VISTA, [3D] VIEW
As SPIR but w ith a 180 adiabatic
CHESS preparation pulse making it
insensitive to B1 (flip angle)
SPAIR SPectral Attenuated inhomogeneity. Spoiler gradients
Inversion Recovery follow the preparation w hich ensure
any magnetisation in the transverse
plane is dephased
As SPIR but w ith a 180 adiabatic
CHESS preparation pulse making it
insensitive to B1 (flip angle)
SPAIR Spectrally Adiabatic inhomogeneity. Spoiler gradients
Inversion Recovery follow the preparation w hich ensure
any magnetisation in the transverse
plane is dephased
Tw o RF pulses w ith a gradient in
betw een. The first (e.g.) 90 pulse
puts spin isochromats into the
transverse plane. The gradient causes
phase dispersion w hich depends on
position along the gradient. Then
another 90 pulse rotates the lot; if
that pulse rotates around the x-axis
(for example), magnetisation along x is
unaffected w hereas magnetisation
SPAtial Modulation of along y is rotated into z. Since the
SPAMM
Magnetisation magnetisation along y depended on
the position along the tagging
gradient, that magnetisation (now in
z) has an amplitude w hich is spatially
modulated (lines across the resultant
image). The x magnetisation decays
aw ay or is spoiled. SPAMM can be
performed in tw o directions to produce
a grid pattern. An imaging sequence
follow s the SPAMM magnetisation
preparation
Spectral fat suppression method. A fat-
SPECIAL SPECtral Inversion At
selective CHESS preparation pulse;
Lipid imaging occurs w hen fat reaches the
null point.
SPGR SPoiled GRASS see FLASH
Steady-state Projection
SPIDER Imaging with Dynamic
Echo-train Readout
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Spectral fat suppression method. A fat-
selective CHESS preparation pulse;
imaging occurs w hen fat reaches the
SPIR Spectral Presaturation null point. The CHESS pulse angle is
Inversion Recovery
reduced to closer to 90 so that the
inversion time is as short as possible,
w hich saves imaging time
SPL Sound Pressure Level
SPM Statistical Parametric Map
SPT System Perfomance Test
SR Slew Rate
SSD Shaded Surface Display

SSFP Steady State Free Do you mean the balanced SSFP

Precession method? See bSSFP
Generic name for (a less common form
of) gradient echo, measured after
gradient spoiling of the SSFP-FID. This
means that the first excitation rotates
magnetisation into the transverse
plane as normal. The second excitation
acts a spin-echo partial-refocusing
pulse, but also produces more
excitation and an associated FID. That
FID is spoiled aw ay, allow ing the the
spin echo from the tw o consecutive RF
excitations to be measured (the SSFP-
SSFP-echo Steady State Free echo), before the next RF excitation
Precession echo arrives. Not RF spoiled. Gradient echo
of a stimulated Spin Echo is measured
(i.e. the refocussed signal of tw o
excitation pulses earlier). Gradient
area in each TR interval must be the
same, TR T2, and RF excitation
pulses must be phase coherent (or
sign-alternated). So-called S-minus
(reversed gradient w aveform)
sequence. Also know n as T2-FFE, PSIF.
Not generally used because bSSFP
produces more signal and has less
sensitivity to flow dephasing
Generic name for (the most common
form of) gradient echo; gradient-
recalled echo is measured after
e xcita tio n, before gradient spoiling of
the SSFP-echo. Not RF spoiled.
Steady State Free Gradient area w ithin each TR interval
SSFP-FID Precession Free Induction must be the same, TR T2, and RF
Decay excitation pulses must be phase
coherent (or sign-alternated). So-
called S-plus (forw ard gradient
w aveform) sequence. Also know n as
FFE, FISP, GRASS

SSFSE Single-Shot Fast Spin See HASTE, SSh

Echo
Fat suppression in spin echo: inversion
of the polarity of the slice selection
gradient associated w ith the 180
refocusing pulse. SSGR relies on
through-plane chemical shift being in
opposite directions for the 90 and the
SSGR Slice-Selection Gradient 180 pulses, so that the shifted fat
Reversal
doesnt receive both RF pulses and
therefore no spin echo is formed from
the fat. Appropriate at higher field
w here chemical shift betw een fat and
w ater is larger. Effective over large
FOV
All echoes are acquired after one RF
SSh Single-Shot excitation. One (full) echo train. E.g.
SSh TSE
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
SSMP Single Slice Multiple Phase

SSRF Spatial-Spectral Radio

Frequency
A S L technique in w hich the
magnetisation transfer effects are kept
the same betw een the label and the
control by performing one adiabatic
pulse during the labeling phase (e.g.
180), and tw o consecutive adiabatic
Signal Targeting with pulses of half RF pow er during the
STAR Alternating
control (e.g. 180 + 180 in the same
Radiofrequency
location as the label tag). The labeling
sequence is preceded w ith a W ET pre-
saturation scheme and follow ed by a
single 90-dephasing pulse to ensure
identical timing betw een both labeling
and control experiments
STE STimulated echo

STEAM STimulated Echo

Acquisition Method
A fat suppression method suitable for
large FOVs or regions of magnetic
susceptibility variation. A 180
inversion prepulse is used to invert all
magnetisation. Then imaging proceeds
after a delay, w hen the longitudinal
STIR Short TI Inversion
recovery of fat magnetisation has
Recovery reached the null point, w hen there is
no fat magnetisation to flip into the x-y
plane. Tissues w ith a T1 relaxation
time different to fat have a signal,
because they either have not yet
reached the null point, or have
recovered past it

SVQ Single Voxel Quantitative

spectroscopy
Used to determine a spectrum of
SVS Single Voxel metabolic information from a single
Spectroscopy volume of interest
Sequence for Water
SWAMP suppression with
Adiabatic Modulated
Pulses
3D multi-echo gradient echo, w ith
SWAN t2-Star Weighted w eighted combination of echoes and
ANgiography further reconstruction (cf SW I)
Magnitude images multiplied by a filter
determined from corresponding phase
SWI Susceptibility Weighted images, providing contrast by reducing
Imaging signal w here susceptibility effects are
more significant

SWIFT SWItch on the Fly

Technique
T/R Transmit/Receive
T0 Time to arrival

T1-FFE T1-weighted Fast Field See FLASH

Echo
T2-FFE T2-weighted Fast Field See SSFP-echo
Echo
TA Time to Acquisition
TD Trigger Delay time
TE Echo Time
TEA TE Averaged
TEeff EFFective Echo Time
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
Referenced in the context of PET/MR,
TF refers to measurement of the time
difference betw een the detections of a
TF Time of Flight positron-electron annihilation event to
more accurately identify the origin of
the annihilation. For time-of-flight in
MRI, see TOF
TF Turbo spin echo Factor
TFE Turbo Field Echo see TurboFLASH
TG Transmit Gain
3D spoiled turbo gradient echo, w ith
SPAIR fat suppression and SENSE
acceleration. Used for single breath
hold, isotropic voxel, contrast
T1 High Resolution enhanced studies (e.g. liver, small
THRIVE Isotropic Volume bow el, pancreas). Suitable for
Excitation calculation of MIPs and MPRs. 4D-
THRIVE denotes addition of keyhole
and CENTRA for a fast dynamic scan
(e.g. breast). Cf LAVA, VIBE. See also
eTHRIVE
Delay time after inversion preparation
TI Inversion Time
RF pulse. See IR
TID Time Intensity Diagram
TID Time intensity diagram
Transfer-Insensitive
TILT
Labeling Technique
Tim Total Imaging Matrix

TimCT Tim Continuous Table

move
TIR True Inversion Recovery
TIR Turbo Inversion Recovery
True Inversion Recovery
TIRM
Magntiude
The effect on image contrast of flow ing
blood: high velocity signal loss (causes
black blood in spin echo), and flow
related enhancement (contributes to
TOF Time Of Flight bright blood in gradient echo, along
w ith the absence of high velocity
signal loss). Flow related enhancement
can affect spin echo too if the flow is
slow . Cf also MRA, PC
Reduces the saturation of blood in a
3D MRA volume. The flip angle is varied
linearly across the excited volume; as
TONE Tilt Optimized
blood magnetisation is more and more
Nonsaturating Excitation saturated as it passes through the
volume experiencing excitation pulses,
the excitation pulse angle increases to
maintain signal response
TP Trigger Point
Autocalibrating parallel imaging for
dynamic scans, in w hich a fully
sampled k-space zone for coil
sensitivity estimation (TSENSE) or k-
tPAT Temporal Parallel space w eights (TGRAPPA) is
Acquisition Technique
synthesised from adjacent temporal
frames. Unlike iPAT methods, each
individual frame has no fully sampled
zone in its corresponding k-space

TPS Transceiver Processing

and Storage
TR Repetition Time
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
CE-MRA method (cf TRICKS, TW IST).
E.g. 4D-TRAK. Uses a modified CENTRA-
based k-space trajectory. Dynamic
Time-Resolved frame rate is determined by the
TRAK Angiography using
frequency of acquisition of central ky-
Keyhole kz space data, w ith the most recent
acquisition of remaining k-space data
filling in the rest of k-space
Peripheral MRA using triggered 3D
TRANCE TRiggered Angiography turbo spin echo, no contrast agent
Non Contrast Enhanced used

TRAPS TRAnsition into static

Pseudo Steady state
TReff EFFective Repetition Time
TrF Tailored Radio Frequency
CE-MRA method (cf TRAK, TW IST). ky-
kz space is divided into a central
sector (e.g. 'A') and multiple concentric
peripheral sectors (e.g. concentric
rings of increasing diameter in ky-kz
space 'B', 'C', 'D'). Data acqusition
alternates betw een central and
TRICKS Time-Resolved Imaging peripheral sectors, w ith frequent
of Contrast Kinetics reacquisition of the central sector (e.g.
ABCDABACADABACAD etc). Dynamic
frame rate is determined by the
frequency of acquisition of the central
sector, w ith the most recent
acquisitions of the peripheral sectors
filling in the rest of k-space
See bSSFP. (Original 'FISP' w as
TrueFISP True Fast Imaging with modified for practical imaging, and the
Steady-state Precession original FISP w as renamed TrueFISP)
TS Saturation time
TS Time Series
TSE Turbo Spin Echo see RARE
Turbo Spectroscopic
TSI
Imaging
TTP Time To Peak
TTR Table Top Release
TTS Travel-To-Scanplane

TurboFLASH Turbo Fast Low Angle

Shot
TurboGSE Turbo Gradient Spin Echo
TW Trigger Window
CE-MRA method (cf TRAK, TRICKS). ky-
kz space is divided into a central and a
peripheral sector. Data acquisition
alternates betw een the sectors. W hen
the central sector is acquied it is fully
sampled. The peripheral sector is
Time-resolved randomly sampled and may not be fully
TWIST angiography WIth acquired; data can borrow ed from
Stochastic Trajectories temporally neighboring peripheral
sector acquisitions. Dynamic frame rate
is determined by the frequency of
acquisition of the central sector, w ith
the most recent acquisition of the
peripheral sector data filling in the rest
of k-space
TX Transmit
Ultra Small Super
USPIO paramagnetic Iron Oxide T2*-reducing contrast agent
nano-particles
UTE Ultrashort Echo Time
UTSE Ultrashort TSE
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
VAST VAriable Sampling in Time
Correction of in-plane distortion by
View Angle Tilting (VAT). A gradient is
added in the slice direction during
readout, w hich matches the slice-
selection gradient, in such a w ay that
the view angle is tilted. Inhomogeneity
VAT View angle tilting
induced geometrical shifts and hence
the intensity changes are corrected,
since the addition of the compensation
w hich is independent from the field
inhomogeneities, including both
chemical shifts and susceptibility
VCG Variable Coil Geometry
VCG VectorCardioGram
VEF Volume ejection fraction
VENC Velocity ENCoding
Variable gradient amplitude during an
RF pulse. Can be used for SAR
VERSE VariablE-Rate Selective
reduction in turbo spin echo by
Excitation reducing RF amplitude; flip angle is
maintained by stretching the pulse
duration
3D spoiled turbo gradient echo, w ith
fat saturation, and w ith partial Fourier
VIBE Volume Interpolated or zero filling in kz. Used for abdominal
Breathhold Examination and pelvic imaging including contrast
enhanced studies. Cf LAVA, eTHRIVE
Bilateral 3D spoiled turbo gradient
echo breast imaging. Uses SPECIAL fat
VIBRANT Volume Imaging for saturation, and separate shim volumes
BReast AssessmeNT on each breast. Allow s sagittal or axial
acquisition. Cf VIEW S, BLISS
VIBRANT w ith 2-echo Dixon w ater-fat
VIBRANT- Volume Imaging for
separation, see VIBRANT and see
Flex BReast AssessmeNT Dixon). Uses ARC parallel imaging. Cf
VIEW S, BLISS
VIBRANT w ith GEM parallel imaging.
VIBRANT- Volume Imaging for See VIBRANT and see GEM. Cf VIEW S,
XV BReast AssessmeNT BLISS

VIEW Volume Imaging with

Commonly 3D VIEW. See SPACE. Cf
Echo Weighting also Cube, VISTA
Bilateral 3D spoiled turbo gradient
Volume Imaging with echo measurement technique for the
VIEWS
Enhanced Water Signal breast w ith fat saturation or w ater
stimulation. Cf VIBRANT, BLISS
See SPACE. Cf also Cube, [3D] VIEW. A
Volumetric ISotropic T2w neuro VISTA implementation w ith
VISTA
Acquisition tissue-specific flip angle sw eep is
called 3D BrainView
VOI Volume of Interest
Voxel VOlume Element
VPS Views Per Segment
Statistic used to denote level of main
magnetic field homogeneity over a
specified volume (units: ppm). Allow s
the user to estimate the volumes over
w hich he or she may peform various

VRMS Volume Root Mean

scan sequences. VRMS = [(1/V)[Bz (r)-
Square Bz (0)]dV] w here Bz (r) and Bz (0)are
the z component of the total magnetic
field at point r and the centre of the
imaging volume V, respectively. The
integration is over the imaging volume
V

VRT Volume Rendering

Technique
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment

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 Abbreviation seen used
Abbrev. Meaning by Comment
Philips Siemens GE
VSS Very Selective Saturation
Phase-cycling method of proton
decoupling used in spectroscopy. The
Wideband Alternating- acronym expansion may be erroneous;
WALTZ phase Low-power it has also been said that name
Technique for Zero- derives from the pulse structure (+90,
residual splitting -180, +270) w hich resembles the
rhythm of a w altz (1,2,3; 1,2,3; etc)
Standard W ARP: see MARS. W ARP VAT:
WARP not an acronym?
see VAT. Advanced W ARP: see SEMAC
WATS WATer Selective
W ater excitation using composite RF
WAVE WAter selective Volume pulses (ProSet), parallel imaging
Excitation (SENSE), breath hold, isotropic voxels
WB Whole Body
Use of multiple RF pulses each
follow ed by a dephasing gradient to
Water suppression perform a more effective overall
WET Enhanced through T1
saturation of magnetisation over a
effects
range of T1 species and B1
inhomogeneities
WFS Water-fat shift
WS Water Suppression
XL eXceL
XL Extra Large (coil)
Usually indicates addition of a parallel
imaging method, w hich allow s more
coverage in the same imaging time.
XV eXtended Volume
E.g. LAVA-XV and VIBRANT-XV (parallel
imaging method: GEM), TRICKS-XV
(parallel imaging method: ASSET)

XYZ The magnet coordinate

system
ZIP Zero filling Interpolation
Processing
Orthogonal excitation and refocussing
ZOOM not an acronym RF pulses used to reduce the volume
from w hich signal is detected
Oblique excitation and refocussing RF
ZOOM ZOnal Oblique
pulses used to reduce the volume from
Multisection EPI w hich signal is detected (small FOV
imaging)
2D RF pulses used to excite a reduced
ZOOMit not an acronym FOV requiring parallel-transmit
hardw are
Abbrev. Meaning Philips Siemens GE Comment
Show ing 1 to 480 of 480 entries

If a manufacturer does not have an acronym for a technique it does not does
not mean that particular technique is not available; sometimes a marketing
name is introduced from one vendor whilst other vendors use a generic name
for a method. Additionally, similar techniques may not produce the same
results; whilst manufacturers' offerings may be based on the same general MR
physics methods, their equivalence in terms of practical functionality and/or
clinical utility should not be assumed.
Some information comparing techniques, including Hitachi and Toshiba pulse
sequences, may be found online: 1 (pdf), 2 (pdf), 3, 4 (pdf), 5, 6

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