| Question 1: Within one TR period, which pulse sequence does NOT require more than one RF excitation before performing a readout? |
| Reference: | M.A. Brown and R.C. Semelka, MRI: Basic Principles and Applications, 4th ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). |
| Choice A: | Simple Spin Echo. |
| Choice B: | Simple Gradient Echo. |
| Choice C: | Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery. |
| Choice D: | Fast Spin Echo. |
| Question 2: Which statement about echo-planar imaging sequences is incorrect? |
| Reference: | M.A. Brown and R.C. Semelka, MRI: Basic Principles and Applications, 4th ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). |
| Choice A: | EPI images may use a gradient to generate echoes during readout. |
| Choice B: | EPI images generally show very little geometric distortion. |
| Choice C: | EPI images may use multiple excitations or “segments” to acquire one image. |
| Choice D: | EPI images may use a 180-degree RF pulse. |
| Question 3: A patient has a significant amount of dental hardware, including metal braces. An exam is ordered to examine the frontal lobe of the brain before and after administering contrast. The MR tech is concerned about the impact of braces on image quality. Which sequence during the exam will be the least affected in the sense of quality? |
| Reference: | B.A. Hargreaves, P.W. Worters, K.B. Pauly, J.M. Pauly, K.M. Koch, and G.E. Gold, “Metal-Induced Artifacts in MRI,” Am. J. Roentgenol. 197(3), 547–555 (2011 |
| Choice A: | SE-EPI-based diffusion weighted imaging sequence. |
| Choice B: | Gradient echo sequence for T1 weighting. |
| Choice C: | Spoiled GRE sequence for T2* weighting. |
| Choice D: | IR-based spin echo sequence for T1 weighting. |
| Question 4: Which one of the statement about dynamic MRI is correct? |
| Reference: | E. Tryggestad et al., “4D tumor centroid tracking using orthogonal 2D dynamic MRI: Implications for radiotherapy planning,” Med. Phys. 40(9), 91712 (2013).
R. Bitar et al., “MR Pulse Sequences: What Every Radiologist Wants to Know but Is Afraid to Ask,” RadioGraphics 26(2), 513–537 (2006).
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| Choice A: | Dynamic MRI is a collective term for many fast MRI techniques. |
| Choice B: | The temporal resolution of dynamic MRI is at least 10 f/s. |
| Choice C: | Dynamic MRI is limited to 2D due to insufficient acquisition and reconstruction speed. |
| Choice D: | Dynamic MRI can only be acquired on a high field scanner. |
| Question 5: Dynamic MRI can be: |
| Reference: | R. Bitar et al., “MR Pulse Sequences: What Every Radiologist Wants to Know but Is Afraid to Ask,” RadioGraphics 26(2), 513–537 (2006). |
| Choice A: | T1 weighted. |
| Choice B: | T2* weighted. |
| Choice C: | T1+T2* weighted. |
| Choice D: | All of the above depending on which sequence is used. |
| Question 6: The method that cannot be used to accelerate dynamic MRI acquisition is: |
| Reference: | Z. Deng et al., “Four-dimensional MRI using three-dimensional radial sampling with respiratory self-gating to characterize temporal phase-resolved respiratory motion in the abdomen,” Magn. Reson. Med. 75(4), 1574–1585 (2016).
M. Uecker, S. Zhang, D. Voit, K.-D. Merboldt, and J. Frahm, “Real-time MRI: recent advances using radial FLASH,” Imaging Med. 4(4), 461–476 (2012).
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| Choice A: | Compressive sensing. |
| Choice B: | Non-Cartesian sampling trajectories. |
| Choice C: | 4D-MRI. |
| Choice D: | Phase sharing. |
| Choice E: | Parallel imaging. |
| Question 7: What method is useful for reduction of both metal artifacts and geometric distortion? |
| Reference: | W. Lu et al., SEMAC: Slice Encoding for Metal Artifact Correction in MRI. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 62:66-76 (2009).
B. Hargreaves et al., Metal-induced artifacts in MRI. AJR 197:547-555 (2011).
R. V. Olsen et al., Metal artifact reduction sequence: Early clinical applications. Radiographics 20: 699-712 (2000).
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| Choice A: | Increase the flip angle. |
| Choice B: | Use gradient echo acquisitions. |
| Choice C: | Increase receiver bandwidth. |
| Choice D: | Change the polarity of the readout gradient. |
| Choice E: | Scan at 3 T. |
| Question 8: Which one of these is NOT an advantage of imaging at low-field? |
| Reference: | F. G. Shellock, Ed. Magnetic Resonance Procedures: Health Effects and Safety. CRC Press. 2000.
R. W. Brown et al., Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and Sequence Design. Wiley-Blackwell 2014.
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| Choice A: | Decreased chemical shift. |
| Choice B: | Decreased peripheral nerve stimulation. |
| Choice C: | Decreased field inhomogeneities. |
| Choice D: | Shorter RF pulses. |
| Choice E: | Decreased SAR. |
| Question 9: Which is NOT a property of steady-state free precession sequences?
|
| Reference: | R. W. Brown et al., Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and Sequence Design. Wiley-Blackwell 2014.
K. Scheffler and J. Henning. Is TrueFISP a gradient-echo or spin-echo sequence. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 40:395-397 (2003).
B. Hargreaves. Rapid gradient-echo imaging Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 36(6):1300-1313 (2012).
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| Choice A: | They generate good tissue contrast at low-field. |
| Choice B: | They can be fast. |
| Choice C: | They are popular for cardiac MRI. |
| Choice D: | They produce less SAR than TSE. |
| Choice E: | They are insensitive to field inhomogeneities. |
| Question 10: Which is NOT a reason for using stability scans?
|
| Reference: | L. Friedman and G. H. Glover. Report on multicenter fMRI quality assurance protocol. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 23:827-839 (2006).
A. E. Campbell-Washburn et al., Using the robust principal component analysis algorithm to remove RF spikes from MR images. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 75(6):2517-2525 (2016).
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| Choice A: | They accelerate the aging of scanner components. |
| Choice B: | They simulate the conditions of typical scans. |
| Choice C: | They can help detect loose fittings and components. |
| Choice D: | They stress the MRI more so than typical (e.g., ACR) QA scans |
| Choice E: | They provide a longitudinal assessment of the MRI systems “health”. |
