Cungeng Yang1, Weiran Deng1, Vijay A. Alagappan2, Lawrence L. Wald2, V. Andrew Stenger1
1Department of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA; 2A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Havard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
Susceptibility artifacts and B1+ inhomogeneity are major limitations in high field MRI. Although 3D RF pulses have been shown to be useful for reducing B1+ inhomogeneity with parallel transmission, susceptibility artifacts remain a problem. Parallel z-shim is a promising technique for reducing the through-plane signal loss susceptibility artifact without sacrificing temporal resolution and implementation ease. We present a parallel transmission, z-shim 3D tailored RF pulse for simultaneously reducing susceptibility artifacts and B1+ field inhomogeneity. The method is demonstrated in vivo in T2*-weighted human brain imaging at 3T. Reduced susceptibility artifacts and improved B1+ homogeneity is observed.
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