AbstractA method for obtaining diffusion‐weighted images that are free from the artifacts associated with echo‐planar acquisitions, such as signal pile‐up and geometric warping, is introduced. It uses an ungated, multishot fast spin‐echo (FSE) acquisition that is self‐navigated. The phase of the refocusing pulses is alternated to minimize non‐Carr‐Purcell‐Meiboom‐Gill (CPMG) artifacts. Several reconstruction methods are combined to make this method robust against motion artifacts. Examples are shown of clinical diffusion‐weighted imaging and high‐resolution diffusion tensor imaging. Magn Reson Med 47:42–52, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.