Spectral Decomposition of Susceptibility Artifacts for Spectral-Spatial RF Pulse Design

Susceptibility induced signal loss is a limitation in gradient echo functional MRI. The through-plane artifact in axial slices is particularly problematic due to the inferior position of air cavities in the brain. Spectral-spatial RF pulses have recently been shown to reduce signal loss in a single excitation. The pulses were successfully demonstrated assuming a linear relationship between susceptibility gradient and frequency, however, the exact frequency and spatial distribution of the susceptibility gradient in the brain is unknown. We present a spiral spectroscopic imaging sequence with a time-shifted RF pulse that can spectrally decompose the through-plane susceptibility gradient for spectral-spatial RF pulse design. Maps of the through-plane susceptibility gradient as a function of frequency were generated for the human brain at 3T. We found that the linear relationship holds well for the whole brain with an optimal slope of −1.0μT/m/Hz.