Principles of whole-body continuously-moving-table MRI

Continuously-moving-table (CMT) imaging is a new and promising approach to virtually extend the field-of-view (FOV) in currently available MRI systems. It shows high potential to improve a number of applications that require a large FOV, such as whole-body contrast-enhanced angiography and contrast-optimized whole-body head-to-toe imaging. In this work, an overview of the different approaches to CMT imaging is given. Basic principles of two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) techniques are discussed, with emphasis on performance and image-artifact issues. Potential clinical applications and further desirable improvements are outlined.