Combining Slice Dependent Center Frequency Adjustment and High Order Eddy Current Correction for Improved Multistation Diffusion Weighted Imaging

Dan Xu¹, Gaohong Wu², Jun Xie², Kenichi Kanda²

B0 field offset and eddy current induced image distortions often seen in diffusion weighted echo planar imaging can be worsened in multistation settings (e.g., whole body imaging), where the unmatched distortions at station boundaries can create sharp discontinuities, largely degrading image quality. We propose to use a combined high order eddy current and slice dependent center frequency correction to reduce image distortion and bulk shift. A 2-station phantom study shows that the proposed method is capable of minimizing station boundary discontinuities and slice shift trend.