The present invention relates to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and more particularly, to a system and methodology of RF pulse generation for Multi-band MRI.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used to form images of anatomy within the body. To generate these images, MRI systems use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves.
As shown in
Thus, the basic hardware components of all high field strength MR systems conventionally are: the superconducting magnet which produces a stable and very intense magnetic field; the gradient coils which create a variable field to enable spatial encoding; and the radio frequency (RF) coils which are used to stimulate transitions between the energy states of the nuclei. A controller which may include a computer with software controls the scanning procedure and processes the information.
More particularly, MRI systems typically employ a spatially uniform and temporally constant main B0 magnetic field. For the purpose of excitation of nuclear spin magnetization within the examination volume of the magnetic resonance device, a radio frequency (RF) pulse sequence, the B1 field, is superimposed perpendicular to the B0 field at the appropriate resonant frequency.
Conventional magnetic resonance imaging devices typically include a set three of gradient coils for the generation of the linear gradient magnetic fields, by which spatial encoding of the nuclear spin magnetization is achieved. During the magnetic resonance procedure, pulse sequences (consisting of radio frequency and switched gradient magnetic fields) are applied to a targeted subject (such as a live patient) to generate magnetic resonance signals, which are detected and stored to obtain information subsequently used to reconstruct spectra and images of the object. These procedures determine the characteristics of the reconstructed spectra and images such as location and orientation in the targeted subject, dimensions, resolution and contrast. The operator of the magnetic resonance device typically selects the appropriate sequence and adjusts and optimizes its parameters for the particular application.
Illustratively in multi-slice 2D imaging, a slice gradient is provided along an axis perpendicular to the plane of the desired slice, causing potential resonance frequencies in that direction. An RF pulse is simultaneously applied whose narrow frequency matches that of the desired slice, such that only protons within the desired slice are excited.
Multi-band (MB) Imaging, also known as Simultaneous Multi-slice (SMS) imaging, increases the speed for multi-slice 2D imaging by acquiring multiple slices simultaneously. See, for example, Larkman, D. J., et al., Use of multicoil arrays for separation of signal from multiple slices simultaneously excited. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2001. 13(2): p. 313-7, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein it its entirety. To achieve this, multiple spatially separated slices are excited simultaneously by applying a specialized RF pulse during a slice selective gradient (
Conventional Multiband RF Excitation: Multi-slice excitation is typically achieved using a complex summation of RF waveforms designed to excite the individual single slices. The complex summation assumes a single base frequency for one rf pulse. For example, the rf pulse may be a pulse defined by equation 1. Additional pulses are added, modulating their phase according to the difference between their frequency and that of the reference pulse, as defined by equation 2 and shown in
RF(t)=RF0(t)*e−iPhase
RF(t)=ΣSBRF0(t)*e−i(Phase
The complex summation results in a rapid oscillation of the amplitude, as shown in
Multiband Excitation by Interdigitating Pulses and Delays: Alternatively, multiple excitation bands can be created by interdigitating RF pulses with periods where no RF is applied, as shown in
In general, the spin response as a function of frequency, SR(ν), can be approximated from the Fourier transform, { }, of the RF waveform via Eq. 3 in the small pulse angle limit. Furthermore, for DANTE waveforms, RF(t) can be expressed as the product of a point-by-point multiplication of a comb function C(t) and a block pulse F(t). Under these conditions, the duration in time of each “tooth” of the comb defines the duration for which the rf is applied. The Fourier transform of a point-by-point multiplication of two functions (i.e. dot product) is equal to the convolution of the individual transforms.
SR(ν)≈{RF(t)}={C(t)·F(t)}={C(t)}⊗{F(t)} Eq. 3
Improving Spin Response over the selected excitation band: Using this formalism, SR(ν) can be improved over the selected excitation bands by improving the shape of {F(t)} by choice of a different F(t). For example if the block profile of F(t) is replaced with a truncated sinc function, i.e. a conventional single slice excitation pulse, {F(t)} can be markedly improved. See Wu, E. X., C. W. Towe, and H. Tang, MRI cardiac tagging using a sinc-modulated RF pulse train. Magn Reson Med, 2002. 48(2): p. 389-93, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Using this construction the required peak amplitude of the pulse will be increased from a conventional slice selective pulse via Δt/tRF, where tRF is the duration of an individual “tooth” of the comb and Δt is the separation in time between the “teeth” of the comb, i.e. the interdigitation interval (IDI).
For example fo tRF tNoRF, the peak amplitude is increased by 2 (i.e. amplitude of conventional sinc shown as solid line
However, as seen in
A similar scheme was also used by Norris for simultaneous multi-slice excitation. See Norris, D. G., et al., Power Independent of Number of Slices (PINS) radiofrequency pulses for low-power simultaneous multislice excitation. Magn Reson Med, 2011. 66(5): p. 1234-40, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However in Norris's method, the sinc shaped Dante pulse is not applied in a continuous selection gradient (see
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method of generating Radio Frequency (RF) pulses RF(t) in a Multi-band (MB) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system is presented. The method may include determining C(t), wherein C(t) is a dirac comb function, the period of the comb function Δt determining the frequency separation of the excitation bands, Δf, where Δf=1/Δt (therefore, for example, a C(t) may be determined that provides a predetermined and/or desired frequency separation of the excitation bands). The method may further include determining F2(t), wherein F2(t) is a single band frequency selective pulse, and wherein a F2(t) may be determined so as to provide a predetermined and/or desired envelope of RF(t) during the interdigitation interval (IDI), and/or a predetermined and/or desired shape of individual excitation frequency bands in the frequency domain. The method may further include determining F1(t) wherein an F1(t) may be defined to provide a desired and/or predetermined shape of RF(t) during the Δt, and/or may be determined so as modulate uniformity and/or provide the number of individual excitation bands in the frequency domain. RF(t) pulses are generated in the MRI system simultaneously with an MRI gradient so as to simultaneously excite multiple slices within a subject, wherein the RF(t) pulses are of the form RF(t)=F1(t)⊗C(t)·F2(t), which create a spin response SR(ν)≈{F1(t)}·{C(t)}⊗{F2(t)}.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a system of generating Radio Frequency (RF) pulses RF(t) in a Multi-band (MB) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system is provided. The system includes a controller configured to: determine C(t) as described above, wherein C(t) is a dirac comb function, the period of the comb function Δt determining the frequency separation of the excitation bands, Δf, where Δf=1/Δt; determine F2(t) as described above, wherein F2(t) is a single band frequency selective pulse, wherein F2(t) defines the envelope of RF(t), and shape of individual excitation frequency bands in the frequency domain; and/or determine F1(t) as described above, wherein F1(t) defines the shape of RF(t) during the Δt, and is used to modulate uniformity and/or number of individual excitation bands in the frequency domain; and generate RF(t) pulses in the MRI system simultaneously with an MRI gradient so as to simultaneously excite multiple slices within a subject, wherein the RF(t) pulses are of the form RF(t)=F1(t)⊗C(t)F2(t), which create a spin response SR(ν)≈{F1(t)}·{C(t)}⊗{F2(t)}.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a non-transitory tangible computer program product in a computer-readable medium for generating Radio Frequency (RF) pulses RF(t) in a Multi-band (MB) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system is provided. The product includes: program code for determining C(t), as described above, wherein C(t) is a dirac comb function, the period of the comb function Δt determining the frequency separation of the excitation bands, Δf, where Δf=1/Δt; program code for determining F2(t), as described above, wherein F2(t) is a single band frequency selective pulse, wherein F2(t) defines the envelope of RF(t), and shape of individual excitation frequency bands in the frequency domain; and/or program code for determining F1(t), as described above, wherein F1(t) defines the shape of RF(t) during each Δt, and is used to modulate uniformity and/or number of individual excitation bands in the frequency domain; and program code for generating RF(t) pulses in the MRI system simultaneously with an MRI gradient so as to simultaneously excite multiple slices within a subject, wherein the RF(t) pulses are of the form RF(t)=F1(t)⊗C(t)·F2(t), which create a spin response SR(ν)≈{F1(t)}·{C(t)}⊗{F2(t)}.
In embodiments related to any of the above-described embodiments, the MRI system may have transmission coils and reception coils defining a RF coil field of view, wherein a target field of view in the slice direction is substantially equal to the RF coil field of view, and wherein determining F1(t) may include defining F1(t) as a rectangular pulse having a time in which no RF is applied, so as to provide a desired and/or predetermined variation in the spin response of the individual excitation bands and/or provide a desired and/or predetermined reduction in deposited power.
In further embodiments related to any of the above-described embodiments, the MRI system has transmission coils and reception coils defining a RF coil field of view, wherein a target field of view in the slice direction is substantially equal to the RF coil field of view, and wherein determining F1(t) may include defining F1(t) as a gaussian, sinusoid, hanning, or hamming, so as to provide a desired and/or predetermined variation in the spin response of the individual excitation bands and/or provide a desired and/or predetermined reduction in deposited power. Determining F1(t) may include: adding a period where no RF is applied; and increasing amplitude of RF(t) and/or shortening duration of tRF, so as to provide a desired and/or predetermined increase in the bandwidth of F1(t).
In still further embodiments related to any of the above-described embodiments, the MRI system has transmission coils and reception coils defining a RF coil field of view, wherein a target field of view in the slice direction is less than the RF coil field of view, and wherein determining F1(t) may include making F1(t) frequency selective, so that sidebands of excitation outside the target field of view are removed or reduced. Determining F1(t) may include adding a period where no RF is applied; and increasing amplitude of RF(t) and/or shortening duration of F1(t), so as to provide a desired and/or predetermined increase in the bandwidth of F1. F1(t) may be one of a sinc function and a Shinnar Le Roux pulse.
The foregoing features of embodiments will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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In illustrative embodiments of the invention, a system and methodology for providing Radio Frequency (RF) pulses that selectively excite a well-defined number of substantially homogeneously frequency bands in a Multi-band (MB) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system is presented. Further embodiments of the invention provide for providing multi-band excitation pulses which can advantageously reduce power deposition and or peak excitation amplitude. Details are provided below.
In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the MRI controller (see
RF(t)=F1(t)⊗C(t)·F2(t) Eq. 4
SR(ν)≈F{RF(t)}=F{F1(t)}·F{C(t)}⊗F{F2(t)} Eq. 5
Under this construct, the overall homogeneity of the bands and number of the bands is controlled by the additional driving function F1(t) which adds additional shaping of the RF during the intervals defining the individual periods, tRF. Thus the problem reduces to defining a suitable function F1(t) which achieves the desired response {F1(t)} in the frequency space.
At step 1501, various factors may initially be defined and/or determined. For example, and without limitation, MB factor (MB), number of slices total, slice thickness and selection strength (SelStr), F2 and the interdigitation interval (IDI) may be defined and/or determined. Illustratively, to determine the IDI given Slice FOV=150 mm, MB=3, Sel. Str.=1 kHz/mm, the slice FOV/MB (mm) would equal 50 mm, the slice FOV/MB (Hz) would equal 50 kHz, and the IDI=1/Slice FOV(Hz)=0.000020.
Definition of Slice FOV and Impact on Pulse Construction: Unlike the conventional MB excitation construct, (see Eq. 2) which creates a well-defined number of sidebands, the use of an interdigitated pulse generally creates many sidebands, some of which are potentially unwanted. However, it is important to recognize that the MB reconstruction process relies on the use of multiple receive coils which have differing spatial sensitivities to resolve the aliasing of imaging data. Typically the receive coils are arranged in rows (typically perpendicular to the plane of the slice) circumscribing the object, as shown in
Pulse Construction when the Target Slice FOV is Limited by the Coil
When the target slice FOV is limited by either the transmission coil or the receive array (i.e. target slice FOV>RF Coil field of view) considerations of unwanted sidebands are eliminated (see
Block Pulse Constructs for F1(t): The conventional sinc-DANTE pulse described in
To provide a consistent comparison for the following sections, the numerical examples use realistic parameters, i.e. MB=3 (3 slices˜horizontal lines within the target slice FOV), as shown in
IDI=MB/(target slice FOV*slice selection strength) Eq. 6
Duration of F2(t)=BTP*(slice thickness/slice selection strength) Eq. 7
Peak B1 (Maximum amplitude of RF(t))≈(tNoRF+tRF)/tRF Eq. 8
Average power (Average relative power of RF(t))≈(tNoRF+tRF)/tRF Eq. 9
For comparison purposes a conventional MB=3 pulse using the same F2(t) driving function results in a peak amplitude of 252 Hz and an average relative deposited power of 19.1 s−1. Notably tNoRF/tRF=1 eliminates the ±2 sideband while retaining 65% of the main band and reducing the overall peak amplitude and power by 33% in comparison to a conventional MB=3 pulse. For tNoRF/tRF=2, the peak amplitude and RF is virtually equivalent to a conventional MB=3 pulse and the ±1 sidebands are approximately 85% of the main band, while yielding attenuated ±2 sidebands. Finally, tNoRF/tRF=3 yields ±1 sidebands of >90% of the main band with ±2 sidebands of ˜65% of the main band. Thus depending upon the extent to which some variation in slice amplitude is acceptable, the pulse construct can either reduce the peak amplitude or power deposition by 33% or yield MB=5 with only a 33% increase in power above a conventional MB=3 pulse (as opposed to 167% in peak amplitude for conventional MB=5 pulse).
Gaussian Pulse Constructs for F(t): To increase bandwidth while attenuating the increase in power, the block pulse used for F1(t) may be replaced with a gaussian shaped pulse.
For example, the Gaussian pulse may be defined by Eq. 10.
F
1(t)=e−t
Unlike a block pulse, the RF can be applied throughout the IDI, i.e. tNoRF=0. Under these conditions, the bandwidth of the pulse is modulated by the number of time constants (n) used to define the pulse as shown in
Although the peak B1 amplitude is significantly increased relative to using a block pulse for F1(t), the homogeneity of the sideband response is improved with only a modest increase in power deposition for n=±4 time constants. Notably n=±3 time constants yields similar performance to tNoRF/tRF=2, for a block F1(t) pulse at 84% of the relative deposited power. Alternately, the performance of the n=±4 gaussian pulse, is well approximated by using an n=±2 gaussian and tNoRF/tRF=1.
Pulse Construction when the Target Slice FOV is NOT limited by the RF Coil FOV. When the target slice FOV is smaller than the sensitive FOV of the coils utilized for reception or transmission, the number of excited bands needs to be constrained. If not, signal from outside of the target slice FOV will be acquired and contaminate the images. Under these conditions the F1(t) pulse has to have sufficient selectivity to maintain a relatively homogeneous spin response while attenuating or eliminating all unwanted additional sidebands, step 1515 of
It should be noted that the spin response of the F1 function which affects the overall performance is largely limited to the frequency positions of the sidebands. Thus substantial passband ripple is acceptable as long as the frequencies corresponding to the desired excitation bands are at a similar value. Likewise, substantial rejection ripple is also acceptable as long as the frequencies corresponding to the unwanted excitation bands are near or at nulls. This allows for the design of pulses with relatively narrow transition bands and small bandwidth-time products. Finally, similar to the gaussian F1 pulse, the tNoRF/tRF may also be modified to achieve greater bandwidths in exchange for smaller bandwidth-time products.
Embodiments of the invention may be located implemented in part in any conventional computer programming language. For example, preferred embodiments may be implemented in a procedural programming language (e.g., “C”) or an object oriented programming language (e.g., “C++”, Python). Alternative embodiments of the invention may be implemented as pre-programmed hardware elements, other related components, or as a combination of hardware and software components.
Embodiments also can be implemented in part as a computer program product for use with a computer system—for example, the controller of the MRI system described above. Such implementation may include a series of computer instructions fixed either on a tangible medium, such as a computer readable medium (e.g., a diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, or fixed disk) or transmittable to a computer system, via a modem or other interface device, such as a communications adapter connected to a network over a medium. The medium may be either a tangible medium (e.g., optical or analog communications lines) or a medium implemented with wireless techniques (e.g., microwave, infrared or other transmission techniques). The series of computer instructions embodies all or part of the functionality previously described herein with respect to the system. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that such computer instructions can be written in a number of programming languages for use with many computer architectures or operating systems. Furthermore, such instructions may be stored in any memory device, such as semiconductor, magnetic, optical or other memory devices, and may be transmitted using any communications technology, such as optical, infrared, microwave, or other transmission technologies. It is expected that such a computer program product may be distributed as a removable medium with accompanying printed or electronic documentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the network (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web). Of course, some embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a combination of both software (e.g., a computer program product) and hardware. Still other embodiments of the invention are implemented as entirely hardware, or entirely software (e.g., a computer program product).
Although various exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made which will achieve some of the advantages of the invention without departing from the true scope of the invention.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/163,300, filed Mar. 19, 2021, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2022/020928 | 3/18/2022 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63163300 | Mar 2021 | US |