Slice selection

Closer examination of equation B 1,14,3 reveals that, after the slice selection pulse, the spin isocln-omats at different positions in the gradient direction are not in phase. Rather they are rotated by i exp jyC. )tind... 

As before, we note that the resonance frequency of a nucleus at position r is directly proportional to the combined applied static and gradient fields at that location. In a gradient G=G u, orthogonal to the slice selection gradient, the nuclei precess (in the usual frame rotating at coq) at a frequency ciD=y The observed signal therefore contains a component at this frequency witli an amplitude proportional to the local spin density. The total signal is of the fomi... 

There is of course no requirement to confine the slice selection to the z-gradient. The gradients may be used in any combination and an image plane selected in any orientation without recourse to rotating the sample. 

Figure Bl.14.10. Flow tlirough an KENICS mixer, (a) A schematic drawing of the KENICS mixer in which the slices selected for the experiment are marked. The arrows indicate the flow direction. Maps of the z-component of the velocity at position 1 and position 2 are displayed in (b) and (c), respectively, (d) and (e) Maps of the v- and the y-velocity component at position 1. The FOV (field of view) is 10 nnn. (From [31].)...

In this section, we will describe three building blocks of NMR imaging phase encoding, frequency encoding and slice selection. All three are related to the signal by the fourth equation ... 

Fig. 1.11 Typical basic three-dimensional negative intensity directly before the actual imaging sequence with slice selection, frequen- read gradient. The shape of the 180° rf pulse cy encoding and phase encoding in three ortho- is drawn schematically to indicate that a soft gonal directions. The compensating lobe for pulse is used, the read gradient is drawn as a rectangle with...

The shape of any rf pulse can be chosen in such a way that the excitation profile is a rectangular slice. In the light of experimental restrictions, which often require pulses as short as possible, the slice shape will never be perfect. For instance, the commonly used 900 pulse is still acceptable, while a 1800 pulse produces a good profile only if it is used as a refocusing pulse. Sometimes pulses of even smaller flip angles are used which provide a better slice selection (for a discussion of imaging with small flip angles, see Section 1.7). 

Fig. 1.21 Echo Planar Imaging (EPI) pulse sequence. Gradient-echo based multiple echoes are used for fast single-shot 2D imaging. Slice selection along Gs and frequency encoding along C, are utilized. Phase encoding is realized using short blipped gradient pulses along Gp.

Another approach to obtain spatially selective chemical shift information is, instead of obtaining the entire image, to select only the voxel of interest of the sample and record a spectrum. This method called Volume Selective spectroscopY (VOSY) is a ID NMR method and is accordingly fast compared with a 3D sequence such as the CSI method displayed in Figure 1.25(a). In Figure 1.25(b), a VOSY sequence based on a stimulated echo sequence is displayed, where three slice selective pulses excite coherences only inside the voxel of interest. The offset frequency of the slice selective pulse defines the location of the voxel. Along the receiver axis (rx) all echoes created by a stimulated echo sequence are displayed. The echoes V2, VI, L2 and L3 can be utilized, where such multiple echoes can be employed for signal accumulation. 

The rf transmitter amplifies an rf pulse signal of about 1 mW up to several W or up to several kW. The amplifier should work in a linear mode (class AB) because excitation pulse shape for slice selection must be reproduced. Class AB rf transmitters such as these with blanking gates are widely available commercially. 

The slice selection procedure can be combined with a number of pulse sequences to spatially resolve NMR parameters or to contrast the profiles with a variety of filters. The most commonly used acquisition schemes implemented to sample echo train decays are the CPMG [(jt/2)0—(Jt)90] or a multi-solid echo sequence [(jt/ 2)0-(jt/2)9o]. In these instances, the complete echo train can be fitted to determine... 

Fig. 2.6.8 Time-of-flight dispersion curves versus the encoding position of gas flowing through a cylindrically symmetrical glass phantom with large pores on the order of 1-cm diameter, obtained with slice selective inversion of magnetization. The flow direction changes twice as the gas is flowing from inlet to outlet. Slices parallel (upper) and perpen-...

Fig. 4.2.3 PGSE timing diagram where Gz denotes both the slice select and the pulsed, sinusoidal shaped displacement encoding gradient and Greacj displays the transverse imaging gradient.

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