Fast fat suppression RF pulse train with insensitivity to B1 inhomogeneity for body imaging

In higher‐field magnetic resonance imaging scanners, a spectrally selective fat saturation radiofrequency (RF) pulse does not work well because B₁ inhomogeneity increases. An adiabatic 180° pulse is used to improve nonuniform fat suppression, but requires inversion recovery time. Therefore, a new RF pulse that achieves flip angles near 90° and is B₁ insensitive has been developed. The pulse consists of three sinc‐shaped RF pulses with different flip angles and with different time intervals between each RF pulse. Using the Bloch equations, we analyzed the optimal combination of flip angles. Experimental results demonstrated that M_z was maintained at less than 0.05 M₀ for a B₁ inhomogeneity of ±35%. The optimal net flip angles was adjusted to 95° by varying the time interval between RF pulses. The pulse duration was 77 ms, which is less than half of the 170‐ms inversion recovery time required for the adiabatic pulse. We demonstrated excellent fat suppression for body imaging. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

High‐resolution maps of magnetization transfer with inherent correction for RF inhomogeneity and T1 relaxation obtained from 3D FLASH MRI

An empirical equation for the magnetization transfer (MT) FLASH signal is derived by analogy to dual‐excitation FLASH, introducing a novel semiquantitative parameter for MT, the percentage saturation imposed by one MT pulse during TR. This parameter is obtained by a linear transformation of the inverse signal, using two reference experiments of proton density and T₁ weighting. The influence of sequence parameters on the MT saturation was studied. An 8.5‐min protocol for brain imaging at 3 T was based on nonselective sagittal 3D‐FLASH at 1.25 mm isotropic resolution using partial acquisition techniques (TR/TE/α = 25ms/4.9ms/5° or 11ms/4.9ms/15° for the T₁ reference). A 12.8 ms Gaussian MT pulse was applied 2.2 kHz off‐resonance with 540° flip angle. The MT saturation maps showed an excellent contrast in the brain due to clearly separated distributions for white and gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid. Within the limits of the approximation (excitation <15°, TR/T₁ ? 1) the MT term depends mainly on TR, the energy and offset of the MT pulse, but hardly on excitation and T₁ relaxation. It is inherently compensated for inhomogeneities of receive and transmit RF fields. The MT saturation appeared to be a sensitive parameter to depict MS lesions and alterations of normal‐appearing white matter. Magn Reson Med 60:1396–1407, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Time‐efficient fast spin echo imaging at 4.7 T with low refocusing angles

An implementation of fast spin echo at 4.7 T designed for versatile and time‐efficient T₂‐weighted imaging of the human brain is presented. Reduced refocusing angles (α < 180°) were employed to overcome specific absorption rate (SAR) constraints and their effects on image quality assessed. Image intensity and tissue contrast variations from heterogeneous RF transmit fields and incidental magnetization transfer effects were investigated at reduced refocusing angles. We found that intraslice signal variations are minimized with refocusing angles near 180°, but apparent gray/white matter contrast is independent of refocusing angle. Incidental magnetization transfer effects from multislice acquisitions were shown to attenuate white matter intensity by 25% and gray matter intensity by 15% at 180°; less than 5% attenuation was seen in all tissues at flip angles below 60°. We present multislice images acquired without excess delay time for SAR mitigation using a variety of protocols. Subsecond half Fourier acquisition single‐shot turbo spin echo (HASTE) images were obtained with a novel variable refocusing angle echo train (20° < α < 58°) and high‐resolution scans with a voxel volume of 0.18 mm³ were acquired in 6.5 min with refocusing angles of 100°. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Radiofrequency pulse designs for three‐dimensional MRI providing uniform tipping in inhomogeneous B1 fields

Although high‐field MRI offers increased signal‐to‐noise, the nonuniform tipping produced by conventional radiofrequency (RF) pulses leads to spatially dependent contrast and suboptimal signal‐to‐noise, thus complicating the interpretation of the MR images. For structural imaging, three‐dimensional sequences that do not make use of frequency‐selective RF pulses have become popular. Therefore, the aim of this research was to develop non‐slice‐selective (NSS) RF pulses with immunity to both amplitude of (excitation) RF field (B₁) inhomogeneity and resonance offset. To accomplish this, an optimization routine based on optimal control theory was used to design new NSS pulses with desired ranges of immunity to B₁ inhomogeneity and resonance offset. The design allows the phase of transverse magnetization produced by the pulses to vary. Although the emphasis is on shallow tip designs, new designs for 30°, 60°, 90°, and 180° NSS RF pulses are also provided. These larger tip angle pulses are compared with recently published NSS pulses. Evidence is presented that the pulses presented in this article have equivalent performance but are shorter than the recently published pulses. Although the NSS pulses generate higher specific absorption rates and larger magnetization transfer effects than the rectangular pulses they replace, they nevertheless show promise for three‐dimensional MRI experiments at high field. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fast radiofrequency flip angle calibration by Bloch–Siegert shift

In a recent work, we presented a novel method for B field mapping based on the Bloch–Siegert shift. Here, we apply this method to automated fast radiofrequency transmit gain calibration. Two off‐resonance radiofrequency pulses were added to a slice‐selective spin echo sequence. The off‐resonance pulses induce a Bloch–Siegert phase shift in the acquired signal that is proportional to the square of the radiofrequency field magnitude B₁². The signal is further spatially localized by a readout gradient, and the signal‐weighted average B₁ field is calculated. This calibration from starting system transmit gain to average flip angle is used to calculate the transmit gain setting needed to produce a desired imaging sequence flip angle. A robust implementation is demonstrated with a scan time of 3 s. The Bloch–Siegert‐based calibration was used to predict the transmit gain for a 90° radiofrequency pulse and gave a flip angle of 88.6 ± 3.42° when tested in vivo in 32 volunteers. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reduction of transmitter B1 inhomogeneity with transmit SENSE slice‐select pulses

Parallel transmitter techniques are a promising approach for reducing transmitter B₁ inhomogeneity due to the potential for adjusting the spatial excitation profile with independent RF pulses. These techniques may be further improved with transmit sensitivity encoding (SENSE) methods because the sensitivity information in pulse design provides an excitation that is inherently compensated for transmitter B₁ inhomogeneity. This paper presents a proof of this concept using transmit SENSE 3D tailored RF pulses designed for small flip angles. An eight‐channel receiver coil was used to mimic parallel transmission for brain imaging at 3T. The transmit SENSE pulses were based on the fast‐k_z design and produced 5‐mm‐thick slices at a flip angle of 30° with only a 4.3‐ms pulse length. It was found that the transmit SENSE pulses produced more homogeneous images than those obtained from the complex sum of images from all receivers excited with a standard RF pulse. Magn Reson Med 57:842–847, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Effects of refocusing flip angle modulation and view ordering in 3D fast spin echo

Recent advances have reduced scan time in three‐dimensional fast spin echo (3D‐FSE) imaging, including very long echo trains through refocusing flip angle (FA) modulation and 2D‐accelerated parallel imaging. This work describes a method to modulate refocusing FAs that produces sharp point spread functions (PSFs) from very long echo trains while exercising direct control over minimum, center‐k‐space, and maximum FAs in order to accommodate the presence of flow and motion, SNR requirements, and RF power limits. Additionally, a new method for ordering views to map signal modulation from the echo train into k_y‐k_z space that enables nonrectangular k‐space grids and autocalibrating 2D‐accelerated parallel imaging is presented. With long echo trains and fewer echoes required to encode large matrices, large volumes with high in‐ and through‐plane resolution matrices may be acquired with scan times of 3–6 min, as demonstrated for volumetric brain, knee, and kidney imaging. Magn Reson Med 60:640–649, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Accelerated radiation damping for increased spin equilibrium (ARISE): A new method for controlling the recovery of longitudinal magnetization

Control of the longitudinal magnetization in fast gradient‐echo (GRE) sequences is an important factor in enabling the high efficiency of balanced steady‐state free precession (bSSFP) sequences. We introduce a new method for accelerating the return of the longitudinal magnetization to the +z‐axis that is independent of externally applied RF pulses and shows improved off‐resonance performance. The accelerated radiation damping for increased spin equilibrium (ARISE) method uses an external feedback circuit to strengthen the radiation damping (RD) field. The enhanced RD field rotates the magnetization back to the +z‐axis at a rate faster than T₁ relaxation. The method is characterized in GRE phantom imaging at 3T as a function of feedback gain, phase, and duration, and compared with results from numerical simulations of the Bloch equations incorporating RD. A short period of feedback (10 ms) during a refocused interval of a crushed GRE sequence allowed greater than 99% recovery of the longitudinal magnetization when very little T₂ relaxation had time to occur. An appropriate application might be to improve navigated sequences. Unlike conventional flip‐back schemes, the ARISE “flip‐back” is generated by the spins themselves, thereby offering a potentially useful building block for enhancing GRE sequences. Magn Reson Med 60:1112–1121, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Strongly modulating pulses for counteracting RF inhomogeneity at high fields

A new pulse technique for counteracting RF inhomogeneity at high fields is reported. The pulses make use of the detailed knowledge of the voxels' B₁ and B₀ amplitude 2D histogram to generate, through an optimization procedure, gates where the flip angle is made uniform. Although most approaches to date require the use of parallel transmission, this method does not and therefore offers several advantages. The data necessary for the algorithm to determine an irradiation scheme requires only one transmit B₁ along with a B₀ inhomogeneity measurement. The use of a B₁ and B₀ amplitude 2D histogram instead of their spatial distribution also decreases substantially the complexity of the optimization problem, allowing the algorithm to find an RF solution in less than 30 s. Finally, the optimization procedure is based on an exact calculation and does not use any linear approximation. In this article, the theory behind the method in addition to spoiled gradient echo experimental data at 3T for 3D brain imaging are reported. The images obtained yield a reduction of the standard deviation of the sine of the flip angle by a factor of up to 15 around the desired value, compared to when a standard square pulse calibrated by the scanner is used. Magn Reson Med 60:701–708, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Effect of flip angle on volume flow measurement with nontriggered phase‐contrast MR: In vivo evaluation in carotid and basilar arteries

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of flip angle on volume flow rate measurements obtained with nontriggered phase‐contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in vivo.

Materials and Methods

We prospectively measured volume flow rates of the bilateral internal carotid artery and the basilar artery with cine and nontriggered phase‐contrast MRI. For nontriggered phase‐contrast imaging, flip angles of 4, 15, 60, and 90° were used for 40 volunteers and of 8, 15, and 30° for 54 volunteers. Lumen boundaries were semiautomatically determined by pulsatility‐based segmentation using cine phase‐contrast MRI. Identical lumen boundaries were used for nontriggered phase‐contrast imaging.

Results

The ratio of volume flow rate obtained with nontriggered phase‐contrast imaging to that obtained with cine phase‐contrast imaging significantly increases with an increase in the flip angle. The mean ratios lie within a relatively narrow range of ±15% with a wide range of flip angles of 8–90°. As the flip angle increases, ghost artifacts become prominent and signal‐to‐noise and contrast‐to‐noise ratios increase.

Conclusion

Flip angles between 8 and 60° are most appropriate for nontriggered phase‐contrast MR measurements in the internal carotid and the basilar artery. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:1218–1223. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Optimal radiofrequency and gradient spoiling for improved accuracy of T1 and B1 measurements using fast steady‐state techniques

Variable flip angle T₁ mapping and actual flip‐angle imaging B₁ mapping are widely used quantitative MRI methods employing radiofrequency spoiled gradient‐echo pulse sequences. Incomplete elimination of the transverse magnetization in these sequences has been found to be a critical source of T₁ and B₁ measurement errors. In this study, comprehensive theoretical analysis of spoiling‐related errors in variable flip angle and actual flip‐angle imaging methods was performed using the combined isochromat summation and diffusion propagator model and validated by phantom experiments. The key theoretical conclusion is that correct interpretation of spoiling phenomena in fast gradient‐echo sequences requires accurate consideration of the diffusion effect. A general strategy for improvement of T₁ and B₁ measurement accuracy was proposed based on the strong spoiling regimen, where diffusion‐modulated spatial averaging of isochromats becomes a dominant factor determining magnetization evolution. Practical implementation of strongly spoiled variable flip angle and actual flip‐angle imaging techniques requires sufficiently large spoiling gradient areas (A_G) in combination with optimal radiofrequency phase increments (?₀). Optimal regimens providing <2% relative T₁ and B₁ measurement errors in a variety of tissues were theoretically derived for prospective in vivo variable flip angle (pulse repetition time = 15–20 ms, A_G = 280–450 mT·ms/m, ?₀ = 169°) and actual flip‐angle imaging (pulse repetition time₁/pulse repetition time₂ = 20/100 ms, A_G1/A_G2 = 450/2250 mT·ms/m, ?₀ = 39°) applications based on 25 mT/m maximal available gradient strength. Magn Reson Med 63:1610–1626, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Eddy‐current compensated diffusion weighting with a single refocusing RF pulse

A modification of the Stejskal‐Tanner diffusion‐weighting preparation with a single refocusing RF pulse is presented which involves three gradient lobes that can be adjusted to null eddy currents with any given decay rate to reduce geometric distortions in diffusion‐weighted echo‐planar imaging (EPI). It has a very similar compensation performance as the commonly used double‐spin‐echo preparation but (i) is less sensitive to flip angle imperfections, e.g. along the slice profile, and B₁ inhomogeneities and (ii) can yield shorter echo times for moderate b values, notably for longer echo trains as required for higher spatial resolution. It therefore can provide an increased signal‐to‐noise ratio as is simulated numerically and demonstrated experimentally in water phantoms and the human brain for standard EPI (2.0 × 2.0 mm²) and high‐resolution EPI of inner field‐of‐views using 2D‐selective RF excitations (0.5 × 1.0 mm²). Thus, the presented preparation may help to overcome current limitations of diffusion‐weighted EPI, in particular at high static magnetic fields. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Optimization of on‐resonant magnetization transfer contrast in coronary vein MRI

Magnetization transfer contrast has been used commonly for endogenous tissue contrast improvements in angiography, brain, body, and cardiac imaging. Both off‐resonant and on‐resonant RF pulses can be used to generate magnetization transfer based contrast. In this study, on‐resonant magnetization transfer preparation using binomial pulses were optimized and compared with off‐resonant magnetization transfer for imaging of coronary veins. Three parameters were studied with simulations and in vivo measurements: flip angle, pulse repetitions, and binomial pulse order. Subsequently, first or second order binomial on‐resonant magnetization transfer pulses with eight repetitions of 720° and 240° flip angle were used for coronary vein MRI. Flip angles of 720° yielded contrast enhancement of 115% (P < 0.0006) for first order on‐resonant and 95% (P < 0.0006) for off‐resonant magnetization transfer. There was no statistically significance difference between off‐resonant and on‐resonant first order binomial Magnetization transfer at 720°. However, for off‐resonance pulses, much more preparation time is needed when compared with the binomials but with considerably reduced specific absorption rate. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Calibration of RF transmitter voltages for hyperpolarized gas MRI

MRI with hyperpolarized gases, ³He, ¹²⁹Xe, ¹³C, and others, has the potential to become an important diagnostic technique for clinical imaging. Due to the nonreversible loss of magnetization in hyperpolarized gas imaging, the choice of the flip angle is a major factor that influences the signal intensity, and hence, the signal‐to‐noise ratio. Conventional automated radiofrequency (RF) calibration procedures for ¹H imaging are not suitable for hyperpolarized gas imaging. Herein, we have demonstrated a simple procedure for RF calibration for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with hyperpolarized gases that is easily adaptable to clinical settings. We have demonstrated that there exists a linear relationship between the RF transmitter voltages required to obtain the same nutation angle for protons (V^1H) and hyperpolarized gas nuclei (V^3He). For our ¹H and ³He coils we found that V^3He = 1.937 · V^1H with correlation coefficient r² = 0.97. This calibration can be done as a one‐time procedure during the routine quality assurance (QA) protocol. The proposed procedure was found to be extremely robust in routine scanning and provided an efficient method to achieve a desired flip angle, thus allowing optimum image quality. Magn Reson Med 61:239–243, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

T1‐corrected fat quantification using chemical shift‐based water/fat separation: Application to skeletal muscle

Chemical shift‐based water/fat separation, like iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least‐squares estimation, has been proposed for quantifying intermuscular adipose tissue. An important confounding factor in iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least‐squares estimation‐based intermuscular adipose tissue quantification is the large difference in T₁ between muscle and fat, which can cause significant overestimation in the fat fraction. This T₁ bias effect is usually reduced by using small flip angles. T₁‐correction can be performed by using at least two different flip angles and fitting for T₁ of water and fat. In this work, a novel approach for the water/fat separation problem in a dual flip angle experiment is introduced and a new approach for the selection of the two flip angles, labeled as the unequal small flip angle approach, is developed, aiming to improve the noise efficiency of the T₁‐correction step relative to existing approaches. It is shown that the use of flip angles, selected such the muscle water signal is assumed to be T₁‐independent for the first flip angle and the fat signal is assumed to be T₁‐independent for the second flip angle, has superior noise performance to the use of equal small flip angles (no T₁ estimation required) and the use of large flip angles (T₁ estimation required). Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fuzzy clustering of gradient-echo functional MRI in the human visual cortex. Part II: Quantification

Fuzzy cluster analysis (FCA) is a new exploratory method for analyzing fMRI data. Using simulated functional MRI (fMRI) data, the performance of FCA, as implemented in the software package Evident, was tested and a quantitative comparison with correlation analysis is presented. Furthermore, the fMRI model fit allows separation and quantification of flow and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contributions in the human visual cortex. In gradient-recalled echo fMRI at 1.5 T (TR = 60 ms, TE = 42 ms, radiofrequency excitation flip angle [?] = 10^°–60^°) total signal enhancement in the human visual cortex, ie, flow-enhanced BOLD plus inflow contributions, on average varies from 5% to 10% in or close to the visual cortex (average cerebral blood volume [CBV] = 4%) and from 10% to 20% in areas containing medium-sized vessels (ie, average CBV = 12% per voxel), respectively. Inflow enhancement, however, is restricted to intravascular space (= CBV) and increases with increasing radiofrequency (RF) flip angle, whereas BOLD contributions may be obtained from a region up to three times larger and, applying an unspoiled gradient-echo (GRE) sequence, also show a flip angle dependency with a minimum at approximately 30^°. This result suggests that a localized hemodynamic response from the microvasculature at 1.5 T maybe extracted via fuzzy clustering. In summary, fuzzy clustering of fMRI data, as realized in the Evident software, is a robust and efficient method to (a) separate functional brain activation from noise or other sources resulting in time-dependent signal changes as proven by simulated fMRI data analysis and in vivo data from the visual cortex, and (b) allows separation of different levels of activation even if the temporal pattern is indistinguishable. Combining fuzzy cluster separation of brain activation with appropriate model calculations allows quantification of flow and (flow-enhanced) BOLD contributions in areas with different vascularization.     

Influence of RF spoiling on the stability and accuracy of T1 mapping based on spoiled FLASH with varying flip angles

There is increasing interest in quantitative T₁ mapping techniques for a variety of applications. Several methods for T₁ quantification have been described. The acquisition of two spoiled gradient‐echo data sets with different flip angles allows for the calculation of T₁ maps with a high spatial resolution and a relatively short experimental duration. However, the method requires complete spoiling of transverse magnetization. To achieve this goal, RF spoiling has to be applied. In this work it is investigated whether common RF spoiling techniques are sufficiently effective to allow for accurate T₁ quantification. It is shown that for most phase increments the apparent T₁ can deviate considerably from the true value. Correct results may be achieved with phase increments of 118.2° or 121.8°. However, for these values the method suffers from instabilities. In contrast, stable results are obtained with a phase increment of 50°. An algorithm is presented that allows for the calculation of corrected T₁ maps from the apparent values. The method is tested both in phantom experiments and in vivo by acquiring whole‐brain T₁ maps of the human brain. Magn Reson Med 61:125–135, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Segmented 2D‐selective RF excitations with weighted averaging and flip angle adaptation for MR spectroscopy of irregularly shaped voxel

A weighted averaging scheme with flip angle adaptation is presented for segmented 2D‐selective RF excitations and applied to single‐line segments of a blipped‐planar trajectory. Segments covering the central k‐space, i.e. those with significant signal contributions, are averaged more often than the (outer) segments with low RF amplitudes and minor signal contributions. For compensation, these outer segments are applied with an increased RF amplitude, i.e. a larger flip angle, such that an unaltered signal contribution is obtained in a reduced number of shots. Numerical simulations and experiments in phantoms and the human brain in vivo demonstrate that the approach considerably increases the signal efficiency, i.e. the signal accumulated per time unit, without introducing profile distortions. Its application to single‐voxel MR spectroscopy of a corpus‐callosum‐shaped region‐of‐interest yielded, due to an optimum coverage of the target volume, higher signal amplitudes than conventional localization based on cross‐sectional RF excitations. Thus, the approach could improve the reliability of single‐voxel MR spectroscopy. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Slice profile correction for transmit sensitivity mapping using actual flip angle imaging

To enable clinical use of parallel transmission technology, it is necessary to rapidly produce transmit sensitivity (σ) maps. Actual flip angle imaging is an efficient mapping technique, which is accurate when used with 3D encoding and nonselective RF pulses. Mapping single slices is quicker, but 2D encoding leads to systematic errors due to slice profile effects. By simulating steady‐state slice profiles, we computed the relationship between σ and the signals received from the actual flip angle imaging sequence for arbitrarily chosen slice selective RF pulses. Pulse specific lookup tables were then used for reconstruction. The resulting σ‐maps are sensitive to T₁ in a manner that depends strongly on the specific pulse, for example a precision of ±3% can be achieved by using a 3‐lobe sinc pulse. The method is applicable to any RF pulse; simulations must be performed once and thereafter fast reconstruction of σ‐maps is possible. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Spoiling of transverse magnetization in gradient-echo (GRE) imaging during the approach to steady state

The signal evolution behaviors and corresponding image appearances for different methods of spoiling or refocusing the transverse magnetization in short TR gradient-echo imaging during the approach to steady state were investigated experimentally and using computer simulations based on the Bloch equations. Specifically, ideally spoiled, gradient-spoiled, gradient-refocused, and RF-spoiled pulse sequence configurations were studied. This study showed that, for the gradient-spoiled configuration, the signal evolution is position and phase-encoding order-dependent and, under typical imaging conditions, can deviate substantially from the ideally spoiled signal evolution at some spatial positions, resulting in intensity banding image artifacts. For the gradient-refocused configuration, the signal evolution oscillates toward the steady state and, generally, does not closely approximate that of ideal spoiling, resulting in different image contrast or image blurring. Using RF spoiling, the signal evolution closely approximates the ideally spoiled case for flip angles less than approximately 20° and T₂ values of less than approximately 200 ms and results in relatively artifact-free images. Also, this study showed that, for RF spoiling, an RF-pulse phase-difference increment other than 117°, such as 84°, may be optimal for gradient-echo imaging during the approach to steady state.