Pre-Emphasis Compensation of Oscillatory Phase Offsets in Phase-Contrast Flow Measurements

Julia Busch¹, Signe Johanna Vannesjoe¹, Daniel Giese¹, ², Christoph Barmet¹, Klaas Pruessmann¹, Sebastian Kozerke¹, ²

Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging provides high resolution information about blood flow, however its application in a clinical setting is still limited due to its sensitivity to phase errors. Phase oscillations caused by mechanical vibrations of the gradient coils account for various degrees of phase offsets depending on the echo time point. A generic system-specific pre-emphasis would offer the possibility to compensate for 0th and 1st order phase offsets without the disadvantage of causing additional scan time. Focusing on the mechanical vibrations of the z-gradient it is demonstrated that pre-emphasis can reduce phase errors well below 1% of the encoding velocity.