Vendor names
MRI sequence names on GE, Philips and Siemens
The same technique has a different name on each scanner. This table gives 55 techniques, options and parameters under their GE, Philips and Siemens names.
Sequence families
Spin echo
GESE
PhilipsSE
SiemensSE
Fast / Turbo spin echo
GEFSE
PhilipsTSE
SiemensTSE
FSE with driven equilibrium
GEFRFSE (Fast Recovery)
PhilipsDRIVE
SiemensRESTORE
A -90° pulse at the end of the echo train forces remaining transverse magnetization back to the z-axis. Fluid stays bright at a shorter TR, so the scan is faster.
Single-shot FSE (half-Fourier)
GESSFSE
PhilipsSingle-shot TSE (SSH-TSE)
SiemensHASTE
The whole image in one echo train (under 1 s per slice). Freezes motion, but long echo trains blur small structures.
3D FSE, variable flip angle
GECUBE
PhilipsVISTA / 3D VIEW
SiemensSPACE
Isotropic 3D volume that can be reformatted in any plane. Variable refocusing angles keep SAR and blurring acceptable over a very long echo train.
Short-TI inversion recovery (fat nulled)
GESTIR
PhilipsSTIR
SiemensSTIR / TIRM
Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery
GET2 FLAIR
PhilipsFLAIR
SiemensDark Fluid (FLAIR)
Spoiled gradient echo
GESPGR / FSPGR
PhilipsT1-FFE
SiemensFLASH
Coherent (steady-state) gradient echo
GEGRASS / GRE
PhilipsFFE
SiemensFISP
Balanced SSFP
GEFIESTA
PhilipsBalanced FFE (bFFE / bTFE)
SiemensTrueFISP
Contrast follows T2/T1, so fluid and blood are bright regardless of flow. Very fast and high SNR, but sensitive to field inhomogeneity (banding).
Phase-cycled balanced SSFP
GEFIESTA-C
PhilipsNo direct equivalent (3D bFFE or 3D DRIVE is used)
SiemensCISS
Two bSSFP acquisitions with different phase cycling are combined to remove banding. Standard for cranial nerves in CSF.
3D IR-prepared fast GRE (T1 volume)
GEBRAVO / 3D FSPGR IR-prep
Philips3D T1-TFE
SiemensMPRAGE
3D T1 fat-suppressed GRE (dynamic body)
GELAVA / LAVA-XV
PhilipsTHRIVE / eTHRIVE
SiemensVIBE
Radial free-breathing 3D T1 GRE
GELAVA Star / DISCO Star
Philips3D VANE XD
SiemensStarVIBE
View-sharing high-temporal-resolution dynamic
GEDISCO
Philips4D-THRIVE
SiemensTWIST-VIBE
Dixon fat-water separation
GEIDEAL / Flex (LAVA-Flex)
PhilipsmDIXON (XD)
SiemensDixon
Echoes at different fat-water phase shifts are combined mathematically into water, fat, in-phase and opposed-phase images. Fat suppression is uniform even where spectral fat sat fails.
Multi-echo combined GRE (T2*)
GEMERGE
PhilipsmFFE
SiemensMEDIC
Susceptibility-weighted imaging
GESWAN
PhilipsSWIp
SiemensSWI
Diffusion-weighted single-shot EPI
GEDWI
PhilipsDWI
SiemensDWI (ep2d_diff)
Multi-shot / readout-segmented DWI
GEMUSE
PhilipsIRIS
SiemensRESOLVE
k-space is collected in several shots, so each echo train is shorter. Less distortion and blurring than single-shot EPI, at the cost of time.
Reduced-FOV DWI
GEFOCUS
PhilipsZoom Diffusion
SiemensZOOMit
Radial-blade motion-robust FSE
GEPROPELLER
PhilipsMultiVane (XD)
SiemensBLADE
Rotating blades all pass through the centre of k-space, so in-plane motion can be detected and corrected. Motion turns into mild streaks instead of ghosts.
Bilateral dynamic breast 3D T1
GEVIBRANT / VIBRANT-Flex
PhilipsBLISS / eTHRIVE
SiemensVIEWS
Metal artifact reduction
GEMAVRIC SL
PhilipsO-MAR / O-MAR XD
SiemensWARP / Advanced WARP (SEMAC)
3D heavily T2-weighted MRCP
GE3D FRFSE MRCP
Philips3D TSE DRIVE MRCP
Siemens3D SPACE MRCP
Arterial spin labelling
GE3D ASL (pCASL)
PhilipspCASL
SiemensASL (PASL; pCASL on newer software)
Acoustic noise reduction
GESilent Scan (Silenz) / ART
PhilipsComforTone / SofTone
SiemensQuiet Suite (QuietX, PETRA)
Angiography
Time-of-flight MRA
GETOF (MOTSA for multi-slab)
PhilipsInflow MRA (TOF)
SiemensTOF
Phase-contrast MRA / flow
GEPC / Inhance Velocity
PhilipsPCA / Q-Flow
SiemensPC / Flow
Time-resolved contrast-enhanced MRA
GETRICKS
Philips4D-TRAK (Keyhole)
SiemensTWIST
Non-contrast MRA (gated FSE or inflow bSSFP)
GEInhance (DeltaFlow, Inflow IR)
PhilipsTRANCE / b-TRANCE
SiemensNATIVE (SPACE, TrueFISP) / QISS
Real-time bolus detection
GESmartPrep / Fluoro Trigger
PhilipsBolusTrak
SiemensCARE Bolus
Acceleration and reconstruction
Image-domain parallel imaging
GEASSET
PhilipsSENSE
SiemensmSENSE
k-space autocalibrating parallel imaging
GEARC
PhilipsNo direct equivalent (SENSE is used)
SiemensGRAPPA
Simultaneous multi-slice
GEHyperBand
PhilipsMultiBand SENSE
SiemensSMS
Compressed sensing
GEHyperSense
PhilipsCompressed SENSE
SiemensCompressed Sensing
Deep-learning reconstruction
GEAIR Recon DL
PhilipsSmartSpeed
SiemensDeep Resolve
A trained network removes noise and truncation ringing from raw data. In practice it buys back the SNR lost to fewer averages or thinner slices.
Surface-coil intensity correction
GEPURE / SCIC
PhilipsCLEAR
SiemensPrescan Normalize
Parameter and option names
Number of signal averages
GENEX
PhilipsNSA
SiemensAverages
Echoes collected per TR
GEETL
PhilipsTSE factor
SiemensTurbo factor
Receiver bandwidth
GErBW in ± kHz (half bandwidth)
PhilipsWFS in pixels, or BW in Hz/pixel
SiemensBandwidth in Hz/pixel
Same quantity, three units. GE ±15.63 kHz is 31.25 kHz across the FOV; with 256 frequency points that is 122 Hz/pixel. At 1.5 T fat-water shift is about 220 Hz, so 122 Hz/pixel gives a WFS of about 1.8 pixels.
Anti-aliasing in the phase direction
GENo Phase Wrap (NPW)
PhilipsFoldover suppression
SiemensPhase oversampling
Rectangular field of view
GEPhase FOV
PhilipsRFOV
SiemensFOV phase
Partial Fourier (phase)
GEFractional NEX (0.5 NEX)
PhilipsHalf scan
SiemensPhase partial Fourier
Partial (asymmetric) echo
GEFractional echo (Minimum TE)
PhilipsPartial echo
SiemensAsymmetric echo
Spatial saturation band
GESAT
PhilipsREST slab
SiemensPresat
Spectral (CHESS) fat saturation
GEFat Sat / Chem Sat
PhilipsSPIR
SiemensFat Sat
Adiabatic spectral inversion
GEASPIR / SPECIAL
PhilipsSPAIR
SiemensSPAIR
Water excitation
GESpectral-Spatial RF (SSRF)
PhilipsProSet
SiemensWater Excitation
Flow compensation
GEFlow Comp (FC)
PhilipsFlow compensation
SiemensGMR
Respiratory triggering / navigator
GERespiratory Trigger / Respiratory Comp / Auto Navigator
PhilipsRespiratory trigger / Navigator / PEAR
SiemensPACE
Peripheral pulse gating
GEPG (Peripheral Gating)
PhilipsPPU
SiemensPulse trigger
Splitting slices into separate passes
GEAcquisitions (Acqs)
PhilipsPackages
SiemensConcatenations
Space between slices
GESpacing (mm)
PhilipsSlice gap (mm)
SiemensDistance factor (% of slice thickness)
Choosing the phase-encoding direction
GEFrequency direction (swap phase/frequency)
PhilipsFold-over direction
SiemensPhase encoding direction
This page is one entry from the MRI Technologist Reference
The full reference has 31 protocols, 9 dynamic study timelines, 19 artifacts, 16 scanner problems and 15 safety topics, as a PDF in English and Arabic plus an interactive tool.
Educational reference. It does not replace your site protocols, the radiologist's instructions, the MR safety officer, or the manufacturer's instructions for any implant, device or contrast agent. Parameter values are typical starting points at 1.5 T and must be adapted to the scanner, coil and patient.