Systems and methods are disclosed for pseudo steady state magnetic resonance fingerprinting. A representative system includes a magnetic resonance control unit. Radio frequency energy is directed in a sequence to a volume. The sequence includes at least two segments. Each segment contains a series of radio frequency pulse which may be used in concert with a series of gradient waveforms. The first segment is repeated successively until magnetization at a beginning of the segment is stable. This initial magnetization deviates from the equilibrium magnetization. Subsequently, the magnetic resonance control unit produces a plurality of imaging segments which collectively capture a high resolution 3D data set, which encodes at least one relaxation parameter into a MR fingerprint. A short delay time may be inserted between imaging sequences.
Rapid 3D volumetric mapping of MRI relaxation parameters