Joshua Kaggie1,2, Seong-Eun Kim2,
Dennis L. Parker2, K Craig Goodrich2, Rock Hadley2
1Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake
City, UT, United States; 2Utah Center for Advanced Imaging
Research, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Diffusion
Weighted Imaging (DWI) susceptibility artifacts are reduced by combining an
in-house gradient coil with the system gradient coil to form a composite
gradient (CG) system with increased slew rates and gradient field
strength. A shielded endcap birdcage
coil was developed for the CG system. A human brain was imaged using a 2D
ss-EPI sequence. The resulting phase
encoding bandwidth was 6.25 Hz with the system gradients and 12.2 Hz with the
CG, resulting in smaller susceptibility artifacts in human brain images
acquired with the composite system.