METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPENSATING FOR B1 INHOMOGENEITY IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING BY NONSELECTIVE TAILORED RF PULSES

摘要

A method of exciting nuclear spins in a body, the method comprising the steps of: (a) immerging said body (PB) in a static magnetic field (B 0 ) for aligning nuclear spins along a magnetization axis (z), said static magnetic field being substantially uniform over at least a volume of interest (VOI) of said body; (b) exposing said body, or at least said volume of interest, to a time-varying magnetic field gradient having components (G x , G y , G z ) directed along at least three non-coplanar directions (x, y, z) and to a transverse radio-frequency field (B 1 ), whereby said time-varying magnetic field gradient defines a three-dimensional trajectory in k-space constituted by segments linking discrete points (k T 1 -k T 9 ), and said transverse radio-frequency field deposits radio-frequency energy along at least part of said trajectory for flipping said nuclear spins by a same predetermined flip angle, independently from their position within said volume of interest. A method of performing magnetic resonance imaging comprising a step of exciting nuclear spins in a body to be imaged, characterized in that said step is performed by carrying out a method A magnetic resonance imaging scanner for carrying out such a method.