The Influence of Background Gradients in Multi Gradient-Echo MR Thermometry

Sara Maria Sprinkhuizen¹, Chris J. Bakker¹, Lambertus Wilhelmus Bartels¹

In multi gradient-echo (mGE) based MR thermometry (MRT), multiple gradient-echo images are acquired. The mGE signal contains spectral information of the substances involved, which can be post-processed into temperature data. Our study shows the impact of background gradients on the mGE based MRT technique. Such gradients shift the acquired echoes, and therefore alter the spectral properties of the mGE signal. This leads to errors in the temperature data, regardless of the post-processing technique used. A correction method is presented which largely adjusts for this effect.