An MRI-based switched gradient impulse response characterization method with uniform eigenmode excitation.

Switching gradients generate eddy currents and mechanical vibrations of the gradient assembly causing errors in the gradient time integrals. This results in image distortions in k-space and inaccuracies in q-space imaging. The purpose of this work is to develop an MRI based unbiased measurement of the switched gradient impulse response function (sGIRF). A new gradient pattern, called the Tukey windowed Shifted Sine-Integral (Tw-SSI) pulse, is introduced to excite the gradient eigenmodes uniformly over a user-defined bandwidth. A 3D MRI-based method with Hadamard encoding was developed to map the spatiotemporal magnetic field generated after the excitation pulse to obtain the sGIRF for all the three gradient axes simultaneously. Compared to an energy-equivalent traditional trapezoidal pulse, the Tw-SSI pulse is able to excite the weak bandlimited cross-terms of the sGIRF by uniformly distributing the energy across eigenmodes. The developed field mapping method is sensitive enough to capture both the direct and cross-terms in the sGIRF. The various mechanical resonant modes of the gradient coils are also revealed, which were found to last longer than eddy currents in the shielded gradient coil studied. Tunable Tw-SSI pulse offers the flexibility to perform unbiased sGIRF measurements over a bandwidth of interest. Rapid MRI field mapping can be easily implemented in any MRI system. The method may be used to perform gradient pre-emphasis, to evaluate new gradient coil designs, and to characterize higher order shims.