MRI acquisition parameters
| DWI | T2-FLAIR | T2* GRE 2D | SWI 3D (see note 1) | 3D T1-volume | T2 | 2D T1 (see note 2) | |
| Orientation | Axial | Axial | Axial | Use standard manufacturer specific SWI protocol from manufacturer’s protocol tree (ie, SWAN (General Electric); VEN_BOLD (Philips); SWI (Siemens)) | Sagittal | Axial | Axial |
| Plane | 2D—EPI | 2D | 2D | 3D | 2D | 2D | |
| TE (ms) | Minimum | 125–140 | 20–30 (15–40) | Minimum | 85–100 | 10–14 | |
| TR (ms) | Minimum | 11 000 | 300–1000 | Minimum | 3000–5600 | 600–650 | |
| TI (ms) | NA | 2800 | NA | 450– 1000 (or no inversion on old General Electric FSPGR) | NA | NA | |
| Slice thickness (mm) | ≤4.0 | ≤4.0 | 3 (3-5) | 1 mm isotropic voxels (1.25 mm) | ≤4.0 | ≤4.0 | |
| Slice gap (mm) | ≤0.4 | ≤0.4 | ≤0.3 (0–1) | NA | ≤0.4 | ≤0.4 | |
| Acquisition matrix (RFOV acceptable) | 96–128 | 180–256 (180-512) | 180–256 | 128–256 | 180–256 (180-512) | 180–256 | |
| FOV (mm) | 230–240 | 230–240 | 230–240 | 224–256 | 230–240 | 230–240 | |
| Flip angle (excitation) | 90° | 90° | 15–60° | 8–15° | 90° | 90° | |
| Flip angle (refocusing) | 180° | 180° | NA | NA | 180° | 180° | |
| b-value | 1000 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Number of slices | 32–42 | 32–42 | 32–42 | 180–192 (128–256) | 32–42 | 32–42 |
Preferred parameters are listed, with acceptable range of values given in brackets for sites where the preferred parameters cannot be achieved for technical reasons .
Note 1: If available.
Note 2: Only required if 3D T1-volume acquisition is degraded by patient motion.
DWI, diffusion-weighted image; EPI, echo-planar imaging; FLAIR, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery; FOV, field of view; FSPGR, fast spoiled gradient-echo; GRE 2D, gradient echo two dimensional; NA, not applicable; RFOV, rectangular field of view; SWI 3D, susceptibility weighted imaging three dimensional; TE, echo time; TI, inversion time; TR, repetition time.