What is Balanced FFE in MRI?

Balanced FFE (Fast Field Echo) is the Philips name for the bSSFP Balanced Steady State Free Precession MRI pulse sequence. It is very fast (thanks to powerful gradients which recycle the magnetization) and gives high signal images (thanks to spin-echo-like refocusing of magnetization). The generic contrast it yields is T1/T2; that is, fluids and fat appear brighter than other tissue.