Correcting B0 Induced Signal Loss using Echo Planar Imaging Reference Data

Dan Xu¹, Joe K. Maier, Kevin F. King¹, Gaohong Wu

B0 inhomogeneity can lead to significant signal loss especially for slices far off isocenter and/or pulse sequences with spectral spatial fat suppression pulses. Collecting B0 map on a per-subject basis is impractical because of the prolonged scan time. In this paper, we propose a method to estimate and correct the per-slice B0 offset using the freely available echo planar imaging (EPI) reference data. Spin echo EPI results on a phantom show that the method can increase the signal for slices 15 cm away from isocenter from 37% to over 75% as compared to signal at the isocenter slice.