TIRE AND MEMORY OPTIMIZED METHOD OF ACQUIRING AND RECONSTRUCTING MULTI-SHOT 3D MRI DATA

A three-dimensional fast spin echo (FSE) scan is performed by stepping (220) through a plurality of phase encode k-space views from a computed view list (210). The view list is computed such that (i) magnetic resonance echoes having a selected image contrast are encoded in the center of k-space, (ii) adjacent data lines in k-space have similar contrast, and (iii) common planes of data lines in k-space are completed at regular intervals. As each data line is read, it is Fourier transformed (230) and stored (240) within a fast-access memory (52). Once a plane of data lines is acquired, it is Fourier transformed (250) along a second direction using a plurality of parallel processors (54). The twice-transformed data is stored (260) in conventional memory (56). Once all of the phase encode views on the view list are acquired, a final Fourier transform (60) along a third direction is performed (270), rendering a volumetric image representation. The method of data acquisition uses fewer memory buffers and takes less time than conventional methods.