A high performance parallelizable MRI physics simulator with graphic processing unit technology

Background The acquisition of high quality Magnetic Resonance (MR) images requires exploring a parameter space for image quality improvement. This iterative process can benefit from simulations of MRI pulse sequences and imaging protocols. Current MRI physics simulators are confined to few pulse sequences and compromises are made due to the high computational power needed. A step-by-step comprehensive Bloch equation simulation from signal acquisition to image formation, without the aforementioned compromises, may help in evaluating cardiovascular MRI protocols and pulse sequences.