Objective and methods: A radiofrequency (RF) pulse design technique is presented that uses iterative constrained minimization to determine Fourier domain coefficients for an optimal time domain RF pulse. The design of new RF pulses is especially beneficial for field strengths of 7.0 T and above, where challenges pertaining to specific absorption rate (SAR) are exacerbated.
Results and conclusion: A pair of 90° and 180° spin-echo pulses was designed to lower SAR without the need for a variable slice gradient. The optimized pulses were deployed to a 7.0 T human scanner to demonstrate a reduction in SAR while retaining signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio.
Keywords: Diffusion MRI; Echo-planar imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Numerical analysis.