Stephan Orzada1,2, Stefan Maderwald1,2,
Benedikt Poser1,3, Andreas K. Bitz1,2, Harald H. Quick1,2,
Mark E. Ladd1,2
1Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic
Resonance Imaging, Essen, NRW, Germany; 2Department for Radiology
and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, NRW, Germany; 3Donders
Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive
Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Signal
dropouts in high and ultra-high field MRI pose a substantial problem. Several
approaches including transmit SENSE and RF shimming have been proposed. Here
we propose a new imaging scheme to tackle this challenge. Using TIAMO, two or
more inhomogeneous images acquired using different RF-transmit modes are
combined to one homogeneous image. The cost in time for multiple acquisitions
can be partially compensated by using the different acquisitions to generate
virtual receive channels in a parallel imaging reconstruction. A mathematical
theory is developed, and the results of phantom studies as well as first 7T
in vivo abdominal imaging are presented.
Keywords