A simple low‐SAR technique for chemical‐shift selection with high‐field spin‐echo imaging

We have discovered a simple and highly robust method for removal of chemical shift artifact in spin‐echo MR images, which simultaneously decreases the radiofrequency power deposition (specific absorption rate). The method is demonstrated in spin‐echo echo‐planar imaging brain images acquired at 7 T, with complete suppression of scalp fat signal. When excitation and refocusing pulses are sufficiently different in duration, and thus also different in the amplitude of their slice‐select gradients, a spatial mismatch is produced between the fat slices excited and refocused, with no overlap. Because no additional radiofrequency pulse is used to suppress fat, the specific absorption rate is significantly reduced compared with conventional approaches. This enables greater volume coverage per unit time, well suited for functional and diffusion studies using spin‐echo echo‐planar imaging. Moreover, the method can be generally applied to any sequence involving slice‐selective excitation and at least one slice‐selective refocusing pulse at high magnetic field strengths. The method is more efficient than gradient reversal methods and more robust against inhomogeneities of the static (polarizing) field (B₀). Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Acoustic noise‐optimized verse pulses

Variable‐rate selective excitation RF pulses modulate the slice selection gradients during RF transmission, especially to reduce the total RF power. Amplitude‐modulated slice selection gradients can lead to increased gradient noise, in particular in high‐field MRI where variable‐rate selective excitation techniques are often used. In this work, an algorithm is presented that calculates a variable‐rate selective excitation pulse modulation from given RF pulses with constant slice selection gradient. The algorithm avoids the known acoustic resonance frequencies of the gradient system to minimize sound pressure levels. It was tested with four different slice‐selective RF pulse shapes (Sinc, Gaussian, and two Shinnar‐LeRoux). Sound measurements revealed a reduction of the mean sound pressure level by up to 13dB, and simultaneously, the specific absorption rate was reduced by 55%. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The effect of concomitant gradient fields on diffusion tensor imaging

Concomitant gradient fields are transverse magnetic field components that are necessarily present to satisfy Maxwell's equations when magnetic field gradients are utilized in magnetic resonance imaging. They can have deleterious effects that are more prominent at lower static fields and/or higher gradient strengths. In diffusion tensor imaging schemes that employ large gradients that are not symmetric about a refocusing radiofrequency pulse (unlike Stejskal–Tanner, which is symmetric), concomitant fields may cause phase accrual that could corrupt the diffusion measurement. Theory predicting the error from this dephasing is described and experimentally validated for both Reese twice‐refocused and split gradient single spin‐echo diffusion gradient schemes. Bias in apparent diffusion coefficient values was experimentally found to worsen with distance from isocenter and with increasing duration of gradient asymmetry in both a phantom and in the brain. The amount of error from concomitant gradient fields depends on many variables, including the diffusion gradient pattern, pulse sequence timing, maximum effective gradient amplitude, static magnetic field strength, voxel size, slice distance from isocenter, and partial Fourier fraction. A prospective correction scheme that can reduce concomitant gradient errors is proposed and verified for diffusion imaging. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

PexLoc—Parallel excitation using local encoding magnetic fields with nonlinear and nonbijective spatial profiles

With the recent proposal of using magnetic fields that are nonlinear by design for spatial encoding, new flexibility has been introduced to MR imaging. The new degrees of freedom in shaping the spatially encoding magnetic fields (SEMs) can be used to locally adapt the imaging resolution to features of the imaged object, e.g., anatomical structures, to reduce peripheral nerve stimulation during in vivo experiments or to increase the gradient switching speed by reducing the inductance of the coils producing the SEMs and thus accelerate the imaging process. In this work, the potential of nonlinear and nonbijective SEMs for spatial encoding during transmission in multidimensional spatially selective excitation is explored. Methods for multidimensional spatially selective excitation radiofrequency pulse design based on nonlinear encoding fields are introduced, and it is shown how encoding ambiguities can be resolved using parallel transmission. In simulations and phantom experiments, the feasibility of selective excitation using nonlinear, nonbijective SEMs is demonstrated, and it is shown that the spatial resolution with which the target distribution of the transverse magnetization can be realized varies locally. Thus, the resolution of the target pattern can be increased in some regions compared with conventional linear encoding. Furthermore, experimental proof of principle of accelerated two‐dimensional spatially selective excitation using nonlinear SEMs is provided in this study. Magn Reson Med 70:1220–1228, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Calibration of gradient propagation delays for accurate two-dimensional radiofrequency pulses.

Hardware-related delays between the requested and actual start times of the gradient waveforms on each physical axis are of particular importance for multidimensional selective excitation in which the synchronization of gradient and radiofrequency (RF) waveforms is critical. A method is proposed for the accurate calibration of gradient propagation delays to optimize the spatial accuracy of 2D RF pulses, although the results may also be used to reduce artifacts in other MR techniques. The sensitivity of 2D RF pulses to uncorrected time shifts between the gradient and RF waveforms was exploited to calibrate accurately the propagation delays on each physical gradient axis. This was achieved using a technique that relates the effect of gradient delays in the component waveforms of a constant-angular rate spiral k-space trajectory 2D RF pulse to the spatial location of the subsequent excitation profile. Comparison was also made with a procedure based on a previously described k-space plotting method, showing broad agreement, but with some discrepancies that illustrate the value of a self-referenced correction method for multidimensional RF pulses.     

Application of variable‐rate selective excitation pulses for spin labeling in perfusion MRI

Arterial spin labeling offers great potential in clinical applications for noninvasive measurement of cerebral blood flow. Arterial spin labeling tagging methods such as the flow sensitive alternating inversion recovery technique require efficient spatial inversion pulses with high inversion accuracy and sharp transition zones between inverted and noninverted magnetization, i.e., require a high performance inversion pulse. This work presents a comprehensive comparison of the advantages offered by a variable‐rate selective excitation variant of the hyperbolic secant pulse against the widely used conventional hyperbolic secant pulse and the frequency offset corrected inversion pulses. Pulses were compared using simulation and experimental measurement in phantoms before being used in a flow sensitive alternating inversion recovery‐arterial spin labeling perfusion measurement in normal volunteers. Both the hyperbolic secant and frequency offset corrected inversion pulses have small variations in inversion profiles that may lead to unwanted subtraction errors in arterial spin labeling at a level where the residual signal is comparable to the desired perfusion contrast. The variable‐rate selective excitation pulse is shown to have improved inversion efficiency indicating its potential in perfusion MRI. The variable‐rate selective excitation pulse variant also showed greatest tolerance to radiofrequency variation and off‐resonance conditions, making it a robust choice for in vivo arterial spin labeling measurement. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Robust spatially selective excitation using radiofrequency pulses adapted to the effective spatially encoding magnetic fields

Multidimensional spatially selective excitation (SSE) has stimulated a variety of useful applications in magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which have regained considerable interest after the recent introduction of parallel excitation. For SSE, radiofrequency pulses are designed specifically for certain time‐courses of spatially encoding magnetic fields (SEM) which are applied simultaneously with the radiofrequency pulses. However, experimental imperfections of gradient‐systems and undesired SEM field contributions often prevent the correct co‐action of radiofrequency pulses and gradient‐waveforms and therefore degrade the fidelity of excitation patterns, especially for parallel excitation. To cope with such imperfections, a classical measurement of k‐space‐trajectories can be performed followed by an adaptation of the SSE‐pulses. However, this method is limited to linear SEM field distributions, which are describable in the k‐space‐formalism. Hence, this work presents a more sophisticated method consisting in a spatially resolved measurement of the temporal phase evolution of the transverse magnetization. This exhaustive phase information can be incorporated into pulse‐design algorithms to compensate even for undesired spatially nonlinear, dynamic SEM field contributions. Both approaches are assessed in various experimental scenarios and individual benefits and limitations are discussed. The adaptation of SSE‐pulses to experimentally achieved calibration data turned out to be very beneficial, and especially the novel spatially resolved method exhibited high potential for robust SSE even in adverse experimental setups. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Specific absorption rate benefits of including measured electric field interactions in parallel excitation pulse design

Specific absorption rate management and excitation fidelity are key aspects of radiofrequency pulse design for parallel transmission at ultra-high magnetic field strength. The design of radiofrequency pulses for multiple channels is often based on the solution of regularized least-squares optimization problems for which a regularization term is typically selected to control the integrated or peak pulse waveform amplitude. Unlike single-channel transmission, the specific absorption rate of parallel transmission is significantly influenced by interferences between the electric fields associated with the individual transmission elements, which a conventional regularization term does not take into account. This work explores the effects upon specific absorption rate of incorporating experimentally measurable electric field interactions into parallel transmission pulse design. Results of numerical simulations and phantom experiments show that the global specific absorption rate during parallel transmission decreases when electric field interactions are incorporated into pulse design optimization. The results also show that knowledge of electric field interactions enables robust prediction of the net power delivered to the sample or subject by parallel radiofrequency pulses before they are played out on a scanner.     

Metabolic imaging of multiple X‐nucleus resonances

This study describes a technique for fast imaging of x‐nuclei metabolites. Due to increased sensitivity and larger chemical shift dispersion at high magnetic fields, images of multiple metabolites can be obtained simultaneously by selective excitation of their resonances with a multifrequency selective radiofrequency pulse at any desired flip angle. This aim is achieved by combining a three‐dimensional gradient echo imaging sequence with a Shinnar‐LeRoux optimized excitation pulse. A proper choice of bandwidth, imaging matrix size, and field of view allows using the chemical shift dispersion of the different resonances to completely separate their images within one large field of view. The method of fast metabolic imaging is illustrated with ¹³C measurements of a phantom containing a solution of ¹³C labeled glucose, lactate, and sodium octanoate and by dynamic measurements of the ³¹P metabolites phosphocreatine and β‐adenosine triphosphate in human femoral muscle in vivo, both at 7T. With dynamic selective ³¹P imaging of the larger part of the upper leg, phosphocreatine signal intensity changes of specific muscles can be studied simultaneously by analyzing the sum of phosphocreatine signals within arbitrarily shaped regions of interest following the muscles' contours. This concept of dynamic metabolic imaging can be applied to other organs and further expanded to other MR‐detectable nuclei and metabolites. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Free-breathing inner-volume black-blood imaging of the human heart using two-dimensionally selective local excitation at 3 T

Black-blood fast spin-echo imaging is a powerful technique for the evaluation of cardiac anatomy. To avoid fold-over artifacts, using a sufficiently large field of view in phase-encoding direction is mandatory. The related oversampling affects scanning time and respiratory chest motion artifacts are commonly observed. The excitation of a volume that exclusively includes the heart without its surrounding structures may help to improve scan efficiency and minimize motion artifacts. Therefore, and by building on previously reported inner-volume approach, the combination of a black-blood fast spin-echo sequence with a two-dimensionally selective radiofrequency pulse is proposed for selective "local excitation" small field of view imaging of the heart. This local excitation technique has been developed, implemented, and tested in phantoms and in vivo. With this method, small field of view imaging of a user-specified region in the human thorax is feasible, scanning becomes more time efficient, motion artifacts can be minimized, and additional flexibility in the choice of imaging parameters can be exploited.     

Compensation of multi-dimensional selective excitation pulses using measured k-space trajectories

Multidimensional spatially selective excitation pulses rely on the accuracy of gradient waveforms to achieve desired excitation volumes. Unfortunately, the high gradient slew-rates and magnitudes required by these pulses often lead to distortion of the waveforms produced by imaging systems resulting in poor selection profiles. In this paper, a k-space calibration procedure, used to determine the actual trajectory produced by the scanner's field gradients, is extended to two spatial dimensions. This measured information is then incorporated in a selective excitation design technique for correcting the RF pulse envelopes to compensate for gradient waveform induced distortion of the excitation volumes.     

Contrast enhancement in TOF cerebral angiography at 7 T using saturation and MT pulses under SAR constraints: impact of VERSE and sparse pulses

Cerebral three-dimensional time of flight (TOF) angiography significantly benefits from ultrahigh fields, mainly due to higher signal-to-noise ratio and to longer T(1) relaxation time of static brain tissues; however, specific absorption rate (SAR) significantly increases with B(0). Thus, additional radiofrequency pulses commonly used at lower field strengths to improve TOF contrast such as saturation of venous signal and improved background suppression by magnetization transfer typically cannot be used at higher fields. In this work, we aimed at reducing SAR for each radiofrequency pulse category in a TOF sequence. We use the variable-rate selective excitation principle for the slab selective TOF excitation as well as the venous saturation radiofrequency pulses. In addition, magnetization transfer pulses are implemented by sparsely applying the pulses only during acquisition of the central k-space lines to limit their SAR contribution. Image quality, angiographic contrast, and SAR reduction were investigated as a function of variable-rate selective excitation parameters and of the total number of magnetization transfer pulses applied. Based on these results, a TOF protocol was generated that increases the angiographic contrast by more than 50% and reduces subcutaneous fat signal while keeping the resulting SAR within regulatory limits.     

Small‐tip fast recovery imaging using non‐slice‐selective tailored tip‐up pulses and radiofrequency‐spoiling

Small‐tip fast recovery (STFR) imaging is a new steady‐state imaging sequence that is a potential alternative to balanced steady‐state free precession. Under ideal imaging conditions, STFR may provide comparable signal‐to‐noise ratio and image contrast as balanced steady‐state free precession, but without signal variations due to resonance offset. STFR relies on a tailored “tip‐up,” or “fast recovery,” radiofrequency pulse to align the spins with the longitudinal axis after each data readout segment. The design of the tip‐up pulse is based on the acquisition of a separate off‐resonance (B0) map. Unfortunately, the design of fast (a few ms) slice‐ or slab‐selective radiofrequency pulses that accurately tailor the excitation pattern to the local B0 inhomogeneity over the entire imaging volume remains a challenging and unsolved problem. We introduce a novel implementation of STFR imaging based on “non‐slice‐selective” tip‐up pulses, which simplifies the radiofrequency pulse design problem significantly. Out‐of‐slice magnetization pathways are suppressed using radiofrequency‐spoiling. Brain images obtained with this technique show excellent gray/white matter contrast, and point to the possibility of rapid steady‐state T₂/T₁‐weighted imaging with intrinsic suppression of cerebrospinal fluid, through‐plane vessel signal, and off‐resonance artifacts. In the future, we expect STFR imaging to benefit significantly from parallel excitation hardware and high‐order gradient shim systems. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Time‐optimal design for multidimensional and parallel transmit variable‐rate selective excitation

Variable‐rate selective excitation (VERSE) is a radio frequency (RF) pulse reshaping technique. It is most commonly used to reduce the peak magnitude and specific absorption rate (SAR) of RF pulses by reshaping pulses and gradient waveforms to reduce RF magnitude while preserving excitation profiles. In this work, a general time‐optimal VERSE algorithm for multidimensional and parallel transmit pulses is presented. Time optimality is achieved by translating peak RF limits to gradient upper bounds in excitation k‐space. The limits are fed into a time‐optimal gradient waveform design technique. Effective SAR reduction is achieved by reducing peak RF subject to a fixed pulse length. The presented method is different from other VERSE techniques in that it provides a noniterative time‐optimal multidimensional solution, which drastically simplifies VERSE designs. Examples are given for 1D and 2D single channel and 2D parallel transmit pulses. Magn Reson Med, 61:1471–1479, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Tailored excitation in 3D with spiral nonselective (SPINS) RF pulses

Brain images acquired at 3T often display central brightening with spatially varying tissue contrast, caused by inhomogeneity in the transmit radiofrequency fields used for excitation. Tailored radiofrequency pulses can provide mitigation of radiofrequency field inhomogeneity, but previous designs have been unsuitable for 3D imaging in rapid pulse sequences. This article presents a nonselective pulse design based on a short (1 ms) 3D spiral k‐space trajectory that covers low spatial frequencies. The resulting excitations are optimized to produce a uniform excitation within a specified volume of interest covering the whole brain. B1 mapping and pulse calculation times were reduced by optimizing in only five slices within the brain. The method has been tested with both single and parallel transmission: in phantom experiments, normalized root‐mean‐square error in excitation was 0.022 for single and 0.020 for parallel transmission. The corresponding results in vivo were 0.066 and 0.055 respectively. A pilot brain imaging study using the proposed pulses for excitation within the Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo (MP‐RAGE) protocol, yielded excellent image quality with improved signal to noise ratio in peripheral brain regions and enhanced uniformity of contrast compared with standard excitation. Greatest performance enhancement was achieved using parallel transmission, but single channel transmission offers significant improvement over standard excitation pulses. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

3D fast spin echo with out‐of‐slab cancellation: A technique for high‐resolution structural imaging of trabecular bone at 7 tesla

Spin‐echo‐based pulse sequences are desirable for the application of high‐resolution imaging of trabecular bone but tend to involve high‐power deposition. Increased availability of ultrahigh field scanners has opened new possibilities for imaging with increased signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) efficiency, but many pulse sequences that are standard at 1.5 and 3 T exceed specific absorption rate limits at 7 T. A modified, reduced specific absorption rate, three‐dimensional, fast spin‐echo pulse sequence optimized specifically for in vivo trabecular bone imaging at 7 T is introduced. The sequence involves a slab‐selective excitation pulse, low‐power nonselective refocusing pulses, and phase cycling to cancel undesired out‐of‐slab signal. In vivo images of the distal tibia were acquired using the technique at 1.5, 3, and 7 T field strengths, and SNR was found to increase at least linearly using receive coils of identical geometry. Signal dependence on the choice of refocusing flip angles in the echo train was analyzed experimentally and theoretically by combining the signal from hundreds of coherence pathways, and it is shown that a significant specific absorption rate reduction can be achieved with negligible SNR loss. Magn Reson Med 63:719–727, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Efficient fat suppression by slice‐selection gradient reversal in twice‐refocused diffusion encoding

Most diffusion imaging sequences rely on single‐shot echo‐planar imaging (EPI) for spatial encoding since it is the fastest acquisition available. However, it is sensitive to chemical‐shift artifacts due to the low bandwidth in the phase‐encoding direction, making fat suppression necessary. Often, spectral‐selective RF pulses followed by gradient spoiling are used to selectively saturate the fat signal. This lengthens the acquisition time and increases the specific absorption rate (SAR). However, in pulse sequences that contain two slice‐selective 180° refocusing pulses, the slice‐selection gradient reversal (SSGR) method of fat suppression can be implemented; i.e., using slice‐selection gradients of opposing polarity for the two refocusing pulses. We combined this method with the twice‐refocused spin‐echo sequence for diffusion encoding and tested its performance in both phantoms and in vivo. Unwanted fat signal was entirely suppressed with this method without affecting the water signal intensity or the slice profile. Magn Reson Med 60:1256–1260, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

New FOCI pulses with reduced radiofrequency power requirements

PURPOSE: To propose new frequency offset corrected inversion (FOCI) pulses with significantly reduced radiofrequency (RF) power deposition for spin echo imaging by incorporating the variable-rate selective excitation (VERSE) schemes into the pulse design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two schemes are proposed to design the new FOCI pulses with dramatically reduced peak RF power requirements. In scheme A, the time-dilation function is derived from a predefined adiabaticity factor modulation function. In scheme B, the time-dilation function is predefined, while the adiabaticity factor is conserved. RESULTS: The new FOCI pulses are shown to be able to operate at reduced specific absorption rate (SAR), specifically at the same peak RF power as that of a five- or seven-lobe sinc inversion pulse of the same duration. Using the new FOCI pulse, significant gain in sensitivity was observed in in vivo spin-echo echo-planar imaging, which was attributed to the improved refocusing slice profile. CONCLUSION: The new FOCI pulses can replace the 180 degrees five- or seven-lobe sinc pulses in spin-echo imaging with the same peak RF power requirement and significantly improved slice profile.     

Asymmetrical gradient coil for head imaging.

This work presents a novel approach to develop dedicated transverse gradient coils for head imaging. The proposed coil design is based on the stochastic optimization of an asymmetrical stream function and improves the matching between the region-of-interest and the homogeneous gradient volume. Additionally, the electric field produced by these asymmetrical coils is 30% lower than that produced by standard symmetrical designs, which minimizes the risk of magnetostimulation of nerves in fast imaging techniques. A prototype of the asymmetrical gradient coil was built to test the method and magnetic field produced by the prototype was measured. Magnetic field measurements and electrical parameters of coils are in good agreement with theoretical calculations.