Michael Nicholas Hoff1, Qing-San Xiang1,2
1Physics, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; 2Radiology,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
An algebraic solution (AS) to the bSSFP banding artifact problem is discovered and compared with a preceding geometric cross-solution (GS). Testing on simulated and actual MR images shows that both techniques eliminate bands. The solutions vary in form, in noise performance, and in response to real and imaginary data swapping. As noise is increased, GS outperforms AS in terms of SNR. Nonetheless, the incoherent nature of residual artifact in AS permits regional processing which can yield SNR levels comparable with GS. The existence of two independent solutions should encourage further investigation into optimized methods of bSSFP signal demodulation.