Cungeng Yang1, Weiran Deng1, V. Andrew Stenger1
1Department of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
Susceptibility artifacts and B1+ inhomogeneity are major limitations in high field MRI. Three-dimensional (3D) RF pulses are useful for reducing B1+ inhomogeneity and spectral spatial pulses have been shown to reduce the through-plane signal loss susceptibility artifact. We present a dual-band 3D RF pulse design for simultaneously reducing susceptibility induced signal loss and B1+ inhomogeneity. The method is demonstrated in T2* weighted brain images at 3T using an RF body coil. The pulses were observed to work well for multiple slices and several volunteers. The method can easily be extended to parallel transmission applications or more complex B1+ profiles.