Short name: AMI-25, generic name: Ferumoxide (SPIO)
Ferumoxides are superparamagnetic (T2*) MRI contrast agents, so the largest signal change is on T2 and T2* weighted images.
The agent distributes relatively rapidly to organs with reticuloendothelial cells primarily the liver, spleen and bone marrow. The liver shows decreased signal intensity, as does the spleen and marrow. The agent is taken up by the normal liver, resulting in increased CNR between tumor and normal liver. Hepatocellular lesions, such as adenoma or focal nodular hyperplasia, contain reticuloendothelial cells, so they will behave similar to the liver, with decreased signal on T2 weighted images. On T1 images, there is typically some circulating contrast agent, and blood vessels show increased signal intensity.
Current MRI protocols involve T1 weighted breath-hold gradient echo images of the liver, and fast spin echo T2 weighted pictures. This requires about 15 minutes. The patient is then removed from the scanner, and the contrast agent administered. After contrast administration, the same pulse sequences are again repeated.

(FID) A free induction decay curve is generated as excited nuclei relax. The amplitude of the FID signal becomes smaller over time as net magnetization returns to equilibrium. If transverse magnetization of the spins is produced, e.g. by a 90° pulse, a transient MR signal will result that will decay toward zero with a characteristic time constant T2 (or T2*); this decaying signal is the free induction decay.
The signal peaks of the echoes fall onto this T2 decay curve, while at each echo the signals arise and decay with T2*. The typical T2 relaxation times being of the order of 5-200 ms in the human body. The first part of the FID is not observable (named the 'receiver dead time') caused by residual effects of the powerful exciting radio frequency pulse on the electronics of the receiver.

The relaxation effect is the transition of an atom or molecule from a higher energy level to a lower one. The return of the excited proton from the high energy to the low energy level is associated with the loss of energy to the surrounding tissue. The T1 and T2 relaxation times define the way that the protons return to their resting levels after the initial radio frequency (RF) pulse. The T1 and T2 relaxation rates have an effect of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of MR images.
The relaxation process is a result of both T1 and T2, and can be controlled by the dependency of one of the two biological parameters T1 and T2 in the recorded signal. A T1 weighted spin echo sequence is based on a short repetition time (TR) and a change of it will affect the acquisition time and the T1 weighting of the image. Increased TR results in improved SNR caused by longer recovering time for the longitudinal magnetization. Increased TE improves the T2 weighting, combined with a long TR (of several T1 times) to minimize the T1 effect.

(SFP or SSFP) Steady state free precession is any field or gradient echo sequence in which a non-zero steady state develops for both components of magnetization (transverse and longitudinal) and also a condition where the TR is shorter than the T1 and T2 times of the tissue. If the RF pulses are close enough together, the MR signal will never completely decay, implying that the spins in the transverse plane never completely dephase. The flip angle and the TR maintain the steady state. The flip angle should be 60-90° if the TR is 100 ms, if the TR is less than 100 ms, then the flip angle for steady state should be 45-60°.
Steady state free precession is also a method of MR excitation in which strings of RF pulses are applied rapidly and repeatedly with interpulse intervals short compared to both T1 and T2. Alternating the phases of the RF pulses by 180° can be useful. The signal reforms as an echo immediately before each RF pulse; immediately after the RF pulse there is additional signal from the FID produced by the pulse.
The strength of the FID will depend on the time between pulses (TR), the tissue and the flip angle of the pulse; the strength of the echo will additionally depend on the T2 of the tissue. With the use of appropriate dephasing gradients, the signal can be observed as a frequency-encoded gradient echo either shortly before the RF pulse or after it; the signal immediately before the RF pulse will be more highly T2 weighted. The signal immediately after the RF pulse (in a rapid series of RF pulses) will depend on T2 as well as T1, unless measures are taken to destroy signal refocusing and prevent the development of steady state free precession.
To avoid setting up a state of SSFP when using rapidly repeated excitation RF pulses, it may be necessary to spoil the phase coherence between excitations, e.g. with varying phase shifts or timing of the exciting RF pulses or varying spoiler gradient pulses between the excitations.
Steady state free precession imaging methods are quite sensitive to the resonant frequency of the material. Fluctuating equilibrium MR (see also FIESTA and DRIVE)and linear combination SSFP actually use this sensitivity for fat suppression. Fat saturated SSFP (FS-SSFP) use a more complex fat suppression scheme than FEMR or LCSSFP, but has a 40% lower scan time.
A new family of steady state free precession sequences use a balanced gradient, a gradient waveform, which will act on any stationary spin on resonance between 2 consecutive RF pulses and return it to the same phase it had before the gradients were applied.
This sequences include, e.g. Balanced Fast Field Echo - bFFE, Balanced Turbo Field Echo - bTFE, Fast Imaging with Steady Precession - TrueFISP and Balanced SARGE - BASG.

See also FIESTA.

(MTC) This MRI method increases the contrast by removing a portion of the total signal in tissue. An off resonance radio frequency (RF) pulse saturates macromolecular protons to make them invisible (caused by their ultra-short T2* relaxation times). The MRI signal from semi-solid tissue like brain parenchyma is reduced, and the signal from a more fluid component like blood is retained.
E.g., saturation of broad spectral lines may produce decreases in intensity of lines not directly saturated, through exchange of magnetization between the corresponding states; more closely coupled states will show a greater resulting intensity change. Magnetization transfer techniques make demyelinated brain or spine lesions (as seen e.g. in multiple sclerosis) better visible on T2 weighted images as well as on gadolinium contrast enhanced T1 weighted images.
Off resonance makes use of a selection gradient during an off resonance MTC pulse. The gradient has a negative offset frequency on the arterial side of the imaging volume (caudally more off resonant and cranially less off resonant). The net effect of this type of pulse is that the arterial blood outside the imaging volume will retain more of its longitudinal magnetization, with more vascular signal when it enters the imaging volume. Off resonance MTC saturates the venous blood, leaving the arterial blood untouched.
On resonance has no effect on the free water pool but will saturate the bound water pool and is the difference in T2 between the pools. Special binomial pulses are transmitted causing the magnetization of the free protons to remain unchanged. The z-magnetization returns to its original value. The spins of the bound pool with a short T2 experience decay, resulting in a destroyed magnetization after the on resonance pulse.

See also Magnetization Transfer.