Correction of parallel transmission using concurrent RF and gradient field monitoring

ObjectivesThe accuracy and precision of the parallel RF excitations are highly dependent on the spatial and temporal fidelity of the magnetic fields involved in spin excitation. The consistency between the nominal and effective fields is typically limited by the imperfections of the employed hardware existing both in the gradient system and the RF chain. In this work, we experimentally presented highly improved spatially tailored parallel excitations by turning the native hardware accuracy challenge into a measurement and control problem using an advanced field camera technology to fully correct parallel RF transmission experiment.Materials and methodsAn array of NMR field probes is used to measure the multiple channel RF pulses and gradient waveforms recording the high power RF pulses simultaneously with low frequency gradient fields on equal time basis. The recorded waveforms were integrated in RF pulse design for gradient trajectory correction, time imperfection compensation and introduction of iterative RF pre-emphasis.ResultsSuperior excitation accuracy was achieved. Two major applications were presented at 7 Tesla including multi-dimensional tailored RF pulses for spatially selective excitation and slice-selective spoke pulses for $$B_{1}^{ + }$$B1+ mitigation.ConclusionComprehensive field monitoring is a highly effective means of correcting for the field deviations during parallel transmit pulse design.