A METHOD OF DESIGNING PULSE SEQUENCES FOR PARALLEL-TRANSMISSION MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, AND A METHOD OF PERFORMING MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING USING SUCH SEQUENCES

摘要

A method of designing a pulse sequence for parallel-transmission magnetic resonance imaging comprises: a) acquiring, for each member of a cohort, inhomogeneity maps of radio-frequency fields generated within the member; b) computing, for each member of the cohort, a spatial distribution of flip angles of nuclear spins obtained using the pulse sequences, and c) computing a single cost or merit function representative of a difference between the spatial distributions of flip angles and a target distribution, and iteratively adjusting design parameters of the pulse sequences to optimize the cost or merit function; the steps b) and c) being carried out iteratively using a computer. A method of performing parallel-transmission magnetic resonance imaging on a subject using a pulse sequence designed by such a method is provided.