A Signal Acquisition Setup for Ultrashort Echo Time Imaging Operating in Parallel on Unmodified Clinical MRI Scanners Achieving an Acquisition Delay of $\text{3}~{\mu}\text{s}$

Ultrashort echo time imaging on clinical systems is still limited by the rather long radio frequency switching times achievable with standard front end concepts. In this contribution, an independent parallel receive-only system is interfaced to an unmodified clinical MRI system, enabling imaging of species with ultrashort relaxation times, such as bone, tendon, teeth, or lung tissue. Synchronization of the system is achieved by an electronically decoupled one-way trigger line, a clock reference signal, and RF pulse tracking, thus ensuring minimal interference with the host system. With the proposed system, an acquisition delay of 3 μs is experimentally demonstrated.