Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 43:410 – 420 (2000)
Design of Improved Spectral-Spatial Pulses for Routine
Clinical Use
Yuval Zur*
Spectral-spatial pulses (spsp pulses) selectively excite spins
at spatial location z and spectral frequency (due to chemical
shift and/or field inhomogeneity) ␷. In this work we discuss
the design of improved spsp pulses for fat signal suppres-
sion. Optimal pulses are designed as optimal constant rip-
ple FIR filters using the inverse SLR transform. Spsp pulses
with thin slices are obtained by modifying the phases be-
tween subpulses, thereby eliminating unwanted magnetiza-
tion lobes. Robust spsp pulses at off-center slices are ob-
tained with a prescan calibration. These pulses are used
either for selective fat saturation or for selective water exci-
tation. It is shown that spsp pulses suppress fat signal better
than conventional fat saturation pulses. Using the techniques
presented in this article, we replaced all the fat saturation
pulses on our systems with spsp pulses and obtained a
significant improvement in image quality. Magn Reson Med
43:410 – 420, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Key words: spectral spatial pulses; fat signal suppression;
spectral selective pulses; radio frequency pulse design
Fat signal suppression is widely used in MRI to improve
lesion conspicuity, reduce motion artifacts and chemical
shift artifacts, and minimize shifting and blurring in spiral
scans (1) and EPI (2). Conventional fat suppression tech-
niques use a spectrally selective RF pulse (FATSAT pulse)
to saturate the fat signal (3). This pulse is applied nonse-
lectively to the whole sample. Careful shimming of the
magnet is required to avoid unwanted water signal sup-
pression. However, even with optimal shimming magnetic
susceptibility variations in the patient may impair the
quality of fat suppression. Spectral spatial RF pulses (spsp
pulses) are used increasingly to suppress fat signal (4 – 8).
These pulses provide improved fat suppression over FAT-
SAT pulses (4 – 6) because they are less sensitive to mag-
netic field inhomogeneity.
An spsp pulse was originally described by Meyer et al.
(9) using the k-space formalism of Pauly et al. (10). This
pulse selectively excites spins at spatial location z and
spectral frequency (due to chemical shift and/or field in-
homogeneity) ␷. For example, it can selectively excite wa-
ter protons or saturate fat protons at any location z and
generate a fat-free image at that location. In contrast, a
conventional FATSAT pulse is applied nonselectively to
the whole sample. The spsp pulse consists of a train of
selective RF subpulses applied in conjunction with an
oscillating slice select gradient. Each subpulse in the train
selects a slice at z, while the phase accumulation from one
GE Medical Systems Israel, Tirat Hacarmel, Israel.
*Correspondence to: Yuval Zur, GEMS Israel, Keren Hayesod St., P.O.B.
2071, Tirat Hacarmel, 39120, Israel. E-mail: yuval.zur@med.ge.com
Received 19 January 1999; revised 30 August 1999; accepted 25 October
1999.
© 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc. 410
subpulse to the other along the train is used to select the
spectral frequency ␷.
In this work, we present a method to generate optimal
and robust spsp pulses which we use in conjunction with
all standard imaging sequences. These pulses replace con-
ventional FATSAT pulses since they provide improved
quality fat-free images. We distinguish between an spsp
selective saturation pulse, which selectively saturates the
fat resonance, and an spsp selective excitation pulse,
which selectively excites the water resonance. The advan-
tages and disadvantages of each type are discussed. We
show that spsp pulses are superior over FATSAT pulses
because they are less sensitive to magnetic field variation
due to inhomogeneity or magnetic susceptibility.
PROPERTIES OF SPECTRAL-SPATIAL PULSES
A train of N slice selective RF subpulses with tip angles
{␣i} (where i ⫽ 1 to N) applied in conjunction with an
oscillating slice select gradient are shown in Fig. 1a,c. kz,
the k-space trajectory along the slice select direction z,
oscillates around kz ⫽ 0, thereby sampling k␷, the spectral
k-space axis. Each RF subpulse in the train is an inherently
refocused pulse (11) with zero gradient area between sub-
pulses. As shown in (11), the train of inherently refocused
pulses in Fig. 1a,c is equivalent to Fig. 1b,d, respectively,
where a delta pulse replaces each selective RF subpulse.
The ith tip angle ␣i(z) at position z is proportional to the
Fourier transform of B1 of the ith selective subpulse as
given by Eq. [31] in Reference 11. An spsp pulse with RF
subpulses applied only during the positive gradient lobes
as in Fig. 1a,b is referred to as type I spectral-spatial pulse.
An spsp pulse with RF subpulses applied during positive
and negative gradient lobes, as in Fig. 1c,d, is referred to as
type II spectral-spatial pulse. The subpulses during the
negative gradient lobes are inverted in time relative to the
subpulses during the positive lobes because the kz trajec-
tory during the negative lobes is time-inverted.
The k-space trajectory in the kz ⫺ k␷ plane is only ap-
proximately inherently refocused because of the phase
accumulation along the k␷ axis during and between the RF
subpulses (11). Therefore, the approximation shown in
Fig. 1b,d is true if
␥G⌬z Ⰷ ⌬v [1]
where ⌬z is the excited slice thickness, G is the slice select
gradient amplitude, ␥G⌬z is the frequency bandwidth
along z and ⌬␷ is the frequency bandwidth along ␷.
Pulse Design Considerations
If Eq. [1] holds, the spsp pulse is equivalent to a train of N
delta subpulses with tip angles {␣i (z)}, and ␶ seconds
Design of Improved Spectral-Spatial Pulses
FIG. 1. a: A spectral spatial pulse with N ⫽ 3 subpulses that are
applied during the positive lobes of an oscillating gradient with
amplitude G. The time between adjacent subpulses is ␶ seconds. b:
Each subpulse in a is equivalent to a delta pulse with the same tip
angle. c: A spectral spatial pulse with N ⫽ 5 pulses that are applied
during positive and negative gradient lobes. The time between
subpulses is half the time shown in a. d: Each subpulse in c is
equivalent to a delta pulse with the same tip angle.
between adjacent subpulses. We can calculate the N tip
angles {␣i} to selectively excite along the spectral fre-
quency ␷ with a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter of N
points and the inverse SLR transform (7,12,13).
The choice of the FIR filter depends on the application.
The constant ripple FIR filter is considered optimal be-
cause it has the narrowest pass-band to stop-band transi-
tion width ⌬␷ for a given pulse duration T ⫽ N␶ and
ripples (14). This filter is optimal for imaging applications
because narrow transition provides the best immunity
against field variations due to inhomogeneity and/or sus-
ceptibility. Another popular FIR filter uses the binomial
coefficients (15). A very low (⬍0.001) stop-band ripple is
achieved at the expense of a wider ⌬␷. Its main use is in
spectroscopy where very high water suppression must be
achieved. In our opinion the binomial FIR filter is less
optimal for imaging because of its wider ⌬␷. Therefore,
we will use the constant ripple FIR filter throughout this
article.
The spectrum of the FIR filter is periodic, with a period
of 1/␶ Hz (14). The magnetization is also periodic and
consists of many lobes separated by 1/␶ Hz. We always try
to decrease ␶ as much as possible in order to prevent
excitation by a neighboring spectral lobe. If we want to
excite only water protons without touching the fat, we
must ensure that:
1/␶ ⱖ 2⌬␯ wf [2]
where ⌬␷wf is the water-fat frequency offset. If Eq. [2] is
fulfilled, the fat resonance is far from the next spectral lobe
by at least ⌬␷wf.
411
The limit set by Eq. [2] on ␶ restricts the duration of each
RF subpulse. On the other hand, the duration and band-
width of the subpulse must meet a specified slice profile
and minimum slice thickness. The minimum slice thick-
ness ⌬z and the time bandwidth product TB which deter-
mine the slice profile are given by:
␥S ⫽
TB
⌬z
where S⫽ 冕0
TRF
G共u兲du [3]
TRF in Eq. [3] is the duration of the RF subpulse and S is
the area of the gradient G during this subpulse. In order to
save time and minimize ␶ we apply the RF subpulses
during the gradient ramps using the VERSE algorithm (16).
For type I spsp pulses the RF subpulse duration is equal
to ␶/2. For type II spsp pulses the subpulse duration is ␶
(see Fig. 1). The ratio R between the area S for type II and
type I pulses depends on the maximum gradient ampli-
tude and slew rate and ␶. If the slew rate is infinite, R 3 2.
In practice 2.5 ⬍ R ⬍ 4. For the examples presented in this
article (see below) R ⫽ 3.1. According to Eq. [3], the min-
imum slice thickness ⌬z for type II pulses is R times
smaller than for type I pulses.
In this work we consider spsp excitation pulses that
excite a desired spectral component, and spsp saturation
pulses that saturate an undesired spectral component. For
the former pulses, we are interested in the transverse mag-
netization and for the latter pulses in the longitudinal
magnetization. For spsp saturation pulses, where the
phase of Mxy is of no concern, we use a minimum phase
FIR filter which enables us to reduce the pass-band to
stop-band transition width ⌬␷.
In order to saturate fat effectively, it is essential that the
saturation pulse uniformly excite the slice of the sequence
that precedes the saturation. To this end, the RF subpulses
in a saturation spsp pulse are designed from a constant
ripple minimum phase FIR filter which has the sharpest
possible slice transition. In addition, the nominal slice
thickness of the subpulses in a saturation pulse is slightly
wider than the slice thickness of the preceding sequence.
Excitation of Off-Center Slices
To select a slice at position z ⫽ zi we use the frequency
synthesizer to modify our rotating frame frequency at any
time t according to the applied gradient G(t). The synthe-
sizer frequency f(t) is given by:
f共t兲 ⫽ ␥G共t兲z i ⫹ ␯ 0 [4]
␷0 is referred to as the synthesizer center frequency.
We can excite a spin with Larmor frequency ␷L by setting
␷0 ⫽ ␷L or by setting ␷0 ⫽ ␷L and add a phase of ␾ ⫽ 2␲␶(␷0
⫺ ␷L) radians between any two adjacent RF subpulses. For
example, we can set ␷0 to the Larmor frequency of fat and
excite water by adding a phase of ␾ ⫽ ⫺2␲␶ ⌬␷wf between
RF subpulses, where ⌬␷wf is the water-fat frequency offset.
ANALYSIS OF THE MAGNETIZATION EXCITED BY A
SPECTRAL-SPATIAL PULSE
In this section we present an analysis of the magnetization
excited by an spsp pulse. The results of this analysis are
used in a later section to improve the spsp pulse.
412
FIG. 2. 兩Mxy(z, ␷)兩 for a type I spsp water-selective excitation pulse.
Pulse parameters are given in the text. Setting the synthesizer
frequency on the water resonance excites the water protons. Note
that the minimum slice thickness is about 9 mm.
Type I Pulse
The precession frequency fp of a spin at (z, ␷) during the
transmission of the RF subpulses is given by:
f p共z, ␯兲 ⫽ ␥Gz ⫹ ␯
fp is the same for all subpulses because pulses are applied
only during the positive gradient lobes. If Eq. [1] holds,
then Mxy (z, ␷) as a function of ␷ for a constant z is
proportional to the FIR filter spectrum, and Mxy (z, ␷) as a
function of z for a constant ␷ is proportional to the slice
profile of each RF subpulse.
Example 1: We demonstrate a type I spsp pulse by
designing a 90° excitation pulse for our 1.9T magnet. The
water is 280 Hz offset from fat. According to Eq. [2], the
maximum time between subpulses is ␶ ⫽ 1.8 msec and the
duration of each subpulse is ␶/2 ⫽ 0.9 msec. The maxi-
mum gradient amplitude and slew rate in our system is 19
mT/m and 40 mT/m/msec, respectively. Each subpulse is
sinc-shaped with time-bandwidth product of 3.0. From Eq.
[3] the minimum slice thickness ⌬z is 9 mm. We use the
following parameters: N ⫽ 8 subpulses, slice thickness
⌬z ⫽ 9 mm, effective pass band/stop band ripples of 0.005
and 0.015, respectively, and FIR filter bandwidth of 150
Hz. The tip angles of the subpulses are 2.2°, 7.4°, 14.1°,
19.5°, 19.9°, 15.3°, 8.4°, and 3.1°. The magnetization 兩Mxy
(z, ␷)兩 in Fig. 2 was calculated by solving Bloch equations
with this spsp pulse. The frequency separation between
lobes on the ␷ axis is 1/␶ ⫽ 560 Hz and the shape of each
lobe along z is the slice profile of each subpulse. We excite
the water resonance by setting the synthesizer center fre-
quency ␷0 (Eq. [4]) on the Larmor frequency of water.
Type II Pulse
For type II pulses the precession frequency fp during odd
subpulses, where the gradient is positive, is different from
Zur
the precession frequency fn during even subpulses where
the gradient is negative:
f p共z, ␯兲 ⫽ ␥Gz ⫹ ␯ [6a]
f n共z, ␯兲 ⫽ ⫺␥Gz ⫹ ␯ [6b]
When fp ⫽ ⫺fn the odd tip angles are different from the
even tip angles because the former are the Fourier trans-
form of the subpulse at fp and the latter at ⫺fn. fn comes
with a negative sign because the kz trajectory during neg-
ative gradient lobes is time-inverted. The magnetization
Mxy(z, ␷) resulting from excitation by a type II spsp pulse
is analyzed in Appendix A. An analytical expression to
Mxy (z, ␷) was derived in reference (9). According to the
analysis in Appendix A, Mxy(z, ␷) is a sum of magnetiza-
tion lobes along the ␷ axis as shown in Fig. A2 (see Ap-
pendix A). We denote the even lobes M2n and the odd
lobes M2n⫹1 with n ⫽ 0, ⫾1, ⫾2…. The frequency offset
between even and odd lobes is 1/(2␶), where ␶ is the time
between subpulses. The central lobe, with n ⫽ 0, is M0. By
definition, M0 is centered at the rotating frame frequency
where the phase ␾ between subpulses is zero.
We show in Appendix A that each even lobe M2n is
symmetric about ␷ ⫽ 0 for any given z (Eq. [7a]) and
symmetric about z ⫽ 0 for any given ␷ (Eq. [7b]).
M 2n共z, ␯兲 ⫽ M ⫺2n共z, ⫺␯兲 [7a]
[5]
M 2n共z, ␯兲 ⫽ M 2n共⫺z, ␯兲 [7b]
Each odd lobe M2n⫹1 is antisymmetric with respect to ␷ ⫽
0 for any given z (Eq. [8a]) and antisymmetric with respect
to z ⫽ 0 for any given ␷ (Eq. [8b]).
M 2n⫹1共z, ␯兲 ⫽ ⫺M ⫺共2n⫹1兲共z, ⫺␯兲 [8a]
M 2n⫹1共z, ␯兲 ⫽ ⫺M 2n⫹1共⫺z, ␯兲 [8b]
The ␷ ⫽ 0 frequency in Eqs. [6], [7], and [8] is the synthe-
sizer center frequency ␷0 from Eq. [4]. The antisymmetry in
Eq. [8] implies that the odd lobes must be zero for all z at
␷ ⫽ 0 and must be zero for all ␷ at z ⫽ 0.
Equations [7] and [8] hold only for the transverse mag-
netization Mxy. The longitudinal magnetization Mz ⫽
冑1 ⫺ 兩Mxy兩2 consists of sidelobes located at the same spec-
tral locations. However, all the lobes are symmetric with
respect to z and ␷ because Mz is independent of the sign
of Mxy.
Example 2: A type II pulse is demonstrated by designing
a 90° excitation pulse with similar parameters as in Exam-
ple 1. These parameters are N ⫽ 8 subpulses with time-
bandwidth product of 3, ␶ ⫽ 1.8 msec, linear phase FIR
with effective pass band / stop band ripples of 0.005/0.015,
respectively, and FIR filter bandwidth of 150 Hz. The
duration of each subpulse is now 1.8 msec. The tip angles
are the same as in Example 1. Using the maximum avail-
able gradient amplitude and slew rate (19 mT/m and 40
mT/m/msec, respectively), the minimum slice thickness is
2.9 mm. In order to excite the water protons, the synthe-
Design of Improved Spectral-Spatial Pulses 413

FIG. 3. 兩Mxy(z, ␷)兩 for a type II spsp water-selective excitation pulse.

Setting the synthesizer frequency on the water resonance excites
the water protons. Pulse parameters are given in the text. The
unwanted odd lobe at ⫺280 Hz excites the fat protons.

sizer center frequency ␷0 is set on the water resonance.

兩Mxy(z, ␷)兩 for this pulse is shown in Fig. 3. Setting ␷0 on the
water Larmor frequency excites the water resonance. The
even lobes M⫺2, M0 and M2 are shown at ␷ ⫽ ⫺560, 0 and
560 Hz, respectively, and the odd lobes M⫺1 and M1 are
shown at ␷ ⫽ ⫺280 and 280 Hz, respectively. This pulse
may be useful for selective water excitation provided the
fat signal located at –280 Hz is uniform throughout the
slice width. In this case, the signal will cancel out because
M⫺1 is antisymmetric in z. On the other hand, this pulse is
useless for selective saturation because Mz is always sym-
metric in z and ␷. Since spsp saturation pulses are very
useful clinically, it is necessary to eliminate the odd lobes.

FIG. 4. Elimination of odd lobes for type II water-selective spsp

ELIMINATION OF ODD LOBES FOR
1/(2␶) ≥ ␷ ≥ ⴚ1/(2␶)
If Eq. [2] is fulfilled, it is sufficient to eliminate the odd
lobe in the range 1/(2␶) ⱖ ␷ ⱖ ⫺1/(2␶) in order to prevent
unwanted excitation as in Example 2. The elimination of
odd lobes for 1/(2␶) ⱖ 兩␷兩 is demonstrated in Fig. 4.
Suppose we want to excite water protons and the fat
resonance is 1/(2␶) Hz below the water resonance. If ␷0 is
set on the water resonance as in Example 2, the fat reso-
nance is excited by M⫺1 as shown in Fig. 4a. Instead, ␷0 is
set on the fat resonance. By definition, this is the ␷ ⫽ 0
frequency. A phase shift of ␾ ⫽ ␲ radians is added between
adjacent subpulses, which shifts the frequency of the even
lobes M0 and M2 to ␷ ⫽ ⫺1/(2␶) and ␷ ⫽ 1/(2␶) Hz, respec-
tively, as shown in Fig. 4b. M1 is eliminated because it is
located at ␷ ⫽ 0 and the water resonance is selectively
excited by M2. In case we want to excite fat protons, ␷0 is
set on the water resonance and a phase of ␾ ⫽ ␲ radians is
added between adjacent subpulses. The fat is selectively
excited by M0.
The general case, where 1/(2␶) is larger than the water-
fat offset frequency is shown in Fig. 4c. Suppose we want
excitation pulses. a: The synthesizer center frequency ␷0 is set on
the water resonance. The odd lobe M⫺1 at ⫺1/(2␶) Hz excites the fat
resonance. b: ␷0 is set on the fat resonance. A phase ␾ ⫽ ␲ radians
is applied between subpulses to shift M0 and M2 to ⫺1/(2␶) and
1/(2␶) Hz, respectively. M1 at ␷ ⫽ 0 is eliminated and the fat is not
excited. c: The fat-water frequency offset is smaller than 1/(2␶). ␷0 is
set on the fat resonance. M0 is shifted by ⫺␷1 Hz from the fat so that
only the water is excited by M2. The frequency offset between M0
and M2 is 1/␶ Hz.
to excite the water (fat) resonance. ␷0 is set on the fat
(water) resonance frequency. The even lobe M0 (M2) is
shifted by ⫺␷1 Hz from ␷0 by adding a phase of ␾ ⫽ 2␲␷1␶
radians between subpulses. ␷1 is determined in such a way
that only the water (fat) resonance is excited by M2 (M0).
In the next examples we demonstrate the elimination of
the odd lobe M1 and design a water-selective excitation
pulse and a fat-selective saturation pulse. These pulses are
designed for 1.9T where the water-fat frequency offset is
280 Hz. The maximum gradient amplitude and slew rate
are 19 mT/m and 40 mT/m/msec, respectively.
414 Zur

Example 3: We design a 90° water-selective excitation

pulse with a linear phase FIR. The spsp pulse parameters
are the same as in Example 2. The effective pass band/stop
band ripples are 0.005/0.015, respectively, and the band-
width is 150 Hz, N ⫽ 8 subpulses, and ␶ ⫽ 1.8 msec. Each
subpulse is a sinc pulse with a time bandwidth product of
3.0. The minimum slice thickness is 2.9 mm. To eliminate
the odd lobes we set ␷0 on the fat resonance and add a
phase of ␲ radians between subpulses in order to excite the
water. The RF and gradient waveforms are shown in Fig.
5a and the magnetization 兩Mxy兩 in Fig. 5b. The amplitudes
of the even subpulses in Fig. 5a are inverted because of the
␲ radians phase shift between subpulses. The water is
excited by M2. The fat resonance is not excited because M1
at ␷ ⫽ 0 is eliminated.
Example 4: In this example we design a fat selective
saturation spsp type II pulse. We use a minimum phase
FIR filter. The pass band/stop band effective ripples are
0.06/0.003 and the bandwidth is 170 Hz. There are N ⫽ 8
subpulses and ␶ ⫽ 1.8 msec. The tip angle is ␣ ⫽ 110°. For
each subpulse we use a minimum phase FIR filter with in
slice/out of slice ripples of 0.05/0.005, respectively, to
ensure sharp slice profile. The time bandwidth product is
3.6. The subpulses tip angles are ⫺6.4°, ⫺10.6°, ⫺1.7°,
13.1°, 33.0°, 38.6°, 29.9°, and 14.1°. To eliminate M1 we set
␷0 on the water resonance and add a phase of ␲ radians
between subpulses. The RF and gradient waveforms are
shown in Fig. 6a. The minimum phase RF waveform of
each subpulse is interpolated according to the gradient
waveform as required by the VERSE algorithm. The even
subpulses are inverted in time relative to the odd sub-
pulses, and the amplitudes of the even subpulses are in-
verted as in Example 3. Mz(z, ␷) is shown in Fig. 6b. The
negative of Mz is displayed to improve the visibility of the
graph. The fat resonance at ␷ ⫽ ⫺280 Hz is excited by M0.
The water resonance at ␷ ⫽ 0 is not excited because M1 is
eliminated. For this pulse the elimination of odd lobes is
critical, because otherwise the water resonance would be
saturated by M1.
Other techniques were suggested to eliminate odd lobes.
With the first technique (4) the scan runs twice: once with
a gradient G and then with a gradient ⫺G. The raw data
from the two scans are added. The odd echoes are canceled
because of their antisymmetry with respect to z (Eq. [8b]).
With the second technique (6) an alternated line scanning
of k-space with two excitations is used to obtain simulta-
neous water and fat images. In practice, however, these FIG. 5. a: RF and gradient waveforms for a type II spsp water-
techniques are not very useful because: 1) saturation selective excitation pulse. Pulse parameters and tip angles are the
pulses cannot be used because Mz is the same for both same as in Fig. 3. The synthesizer frequency is set on the fat
scans and cannot be cancelled; 2) scan time increases resonance and a phase of ␲ radians is applied between subpulses
because at least two excitations are required; and 3) patient by inverting the amplitudes of even subpulses. b: 兩Mxy(z, ␷)兩 for this
movement during the scan may cause the raw data from pulse. The fat is not excited and the water at ␷ ⫽ 280 Hz is
selectively excited by M2.
the two excitations to be inconsistent.

SPECTRAL-SPATIAL PULSE CALIBRATION

In this section we show that unwanted phase shifts arise
between subpulses of type II spsp pulses due to unavoid-
able small gradient distortions. For pulses designed for
selective water excitation, these phase shifts cause fat ex-
citation and vice versa. A prescan sequence is used to
accurately measure these phase shifts, allowing their full
cancellation during the scan.
For off-center slices the synthesizer frequency f(t) must
follow the slice select gradient G(t), as in Eq. [4]. f(t) is
controlled digitally and it accurately follows the desired
pattern. On the other hand, G(t) deviates from the desired
Design of Improved Spectral-Spatial Pulses
FIG. 6. a: RF and gradient waveforms for a type II spsp fat-selective
saturation pulse. A minimum phase FIR filter is used to calculate the
tip angles {␣i} of the subpulses and a minimum phase FIR filter is
also used for each subpulse to ensure optimal slice profile. The
pulse parameters are given in the text. The even subpulses are
inverted in time relative to the odd subpulses. A phase shift of ␲
radians is added between subpulses by inverting the amplitudes of
even subpulses. b: Mz(z,␷) for this pulse. The odd lobe M1 at ␷ ⫽ 0
is suppressed. The fat resonance at ␷ ⫽ ⫺280 Hz is selectively
excited by M0 and the water resonance is not excited.
pattern because of gradient delay, eddy currents, and dis-
tortions generated by the current amplifier (17). This de-
viation, ⌬G(t), as well as B0 eddy currents (4) ⌬B0(t) gen-
erate an undesired phase shift of ␺(t) radians between the
spins and the rotating frame defined by the synthesizer:
415
FIG. 7. Demonstration of the generation of an unwanted phase due
to a deviation of the gradient pattern G(t) from the synthesizer
pattern f(t). The thick line is f(t). f(t) is delayed by ⌬t seconds from
G(t). The phase shift ␺0 between the first and the second subpulses
is proportional to the dotted area. An opposite phase shift is gen-
erated between the second and third subpulses which is propor-
tional to the gray area.
␺共t兲 ⫽ ␥z i 冕
0
t
⌬G共t⬘兲dt⬘ ⫹ ␥ 冕
0
t
⌬B 0共t⬘兲dt⬘ [9]
where zi is the slice position. Equation [9] shows that for
off-center slices where zi is large, ␺(t) may be significant
even with small gradient deviation ⌬G(t).
This effect is demonstrated in Fig. 7, where there is a
small gradient delay ⌬t between f(t) and G(t). Because of
this delay a phase shift of ␺0 ⫽ 2␥ziG⌬t radians, which is
equal to the dotted area in Fig. 7, is generated during the
gradient fall between odd and an adjacent even subpulse.
G is the peak gradient amplitude. Similarly, a phase shift
of ⫺␺0 radians is generated during the gradient rise be-
tween even and an adjacent odd subpulse. This phase shift
is equal to the gray area in Fig. 7. Consequently, the phase
between even subpulses (or odd subpulses) is ␺0 ⫺ ␺0 ⫽ 0
radians. A similar effect occurs if the duration/time con-
stant of the distortions/eddy currents is short compared to
the time ␶ between subpulses. In this case, the gradient fall
induces a phase shift of ␺0 radians and the gradient rise
induces an opposite phase shift of ⫺␺0 radians.
For eddy currents with time constant comparable to ␶,
the phase ␺0 varies from one subpulse to the other until a
steady state is achieved, where ␺0 between odd and even
subpulses equals to ⫺␺0 between even and odd subpulses.
In order to ensure that steady state is achieved prior to the
first subpulse, the spsp pulse is preceded with dummy
gradient pulses. Eddy currents with time constants longer
than the total spsp pulse duration have negligible effect
on ␺0.
The effect of the phase shift ␺0 is analyzed in Appendix
B. When ␺0 ⫽ 0 the unwanted magnetization lobe M1 in
Fig. 4 reappears at 1/(2␶) Hz away from the excitation lobe
M0, causing M0 itself to decrease. The ratio between the
416
FIG. 8. A prescan sequence to measure the phase ␺0 between
adjacent subpulses of a type II spsp pulse. The synthesizer pattern
f(t) follows the gradient pattern G(t) in segment B according to
Eq. [4].
amplitudes of M1 and M0 as a function of ␺0 is given by Eq.
[A3]. From Eq. [A3], if ␺0 ⫽ ␲/2 radians 兩M1兩 ⫽ 兩M0兩 and if
␺0 ⫽ ␲ radians all the magnetization is shifted from M0 to
M1. This unwanted magnetization excites fat when we
want to excite water and vice versa. Therefore ␺0 must be
minimized so that M1 becomes negligible.
According to the analysis in Appendix B, if we require
that M1/M0 ⬍ 5% then ␺0 ⬍ 0.1 radian. Using the example
in Fig. 7, ␺0 ⫽ 2␥ziG⌬t radians where G is the peak gradi-
ent, ⌬t is the gradient delay and zi is the slice position. We
may minimize ⌬t by shifting the gradient demand forward
in time so that G(t) and f(t) almost coincide and ␺0 ⬍ 0.1
radians. This means that for G ⫽ 19 mT/m and zi ⫽ 10 cm,
兩⌬t兩 ⬍ 0.1 ␮sec. In practice we cannot determine ⌬t with
such accuracy. We face the same problem with gradient
distortions and eddy currents. In practice the gradient
delay, distortions, and eddy currents cannot be accurately
controlled or measured and they vary significantly with
gradient axes, gradient amplifiers, and even gradient cur-
rent amplitude (17). To solve this problem we developed a
special prescan sequence. We run this prescan immedi-
ately before the scan starts and measure ␺0 using the slice
positions and gradient demands that are actually used in
the scan. ␺0 is corrected by applying an opposite phase
shift, ⫺␺0, during the scan. Note that ␺0 does not affect
type I spsp pulses because RF subpulses are applied only
during the positive gradient lobes and the phase between
subpulses remains zero. Therefore, no prescan or calibra-
tion is required for type I pulses.
The prescan sequence is shown in Fig. 8. This is a spin
echo sequence with only a slice-select gradient that runs
with the same slice positions and slice thickness as the
scan itself. The sequence has two segments: A and B.
Segment A is a flow-compensated spin echo sequence
with standard slice selective 90° and 180° pulses. Seg-
ment B is also flow-compensated. In addition to the
Zur
FIG. 9. 兩Mxy兩 vs. z and ␷. The image shows the lobes generated by
the spectral spatial pulse of Fig. 5. The vertical axis is z and the
horizontal axis is ␷. Applying a constant gradient during excitation
simulated the spectral axis ␷. The lobe M1 at the center of the ␷ axis
(␷ ⫽ 0) is eliminated, as predicted by Fig. 5.
gradients G(t) there are synthesizer patterns f(t), which
follow the gradient patterns in segment B according to
Eq. [4]. The gradient lobe C in Fig. 8 is identical to the
gradient lobe under each subpulse in the spsp pulse that
we use in the scan itself. The prescan sequence runs
twice: 1) the gradients and synthesizer patterns G(t) and
f(t) in segment B run with positive polarity and the
phase of the echo signal is calculated; 2) the gradients
and synthesizer patterns in segment B run with opposite
polarity, i.e., ⫺G(t) and ⫺f(t) and the signal phase is
calculated again. For each slice the signal phase of the
second run is added to the signal phase of the first run.
The result is the phase ␺0 between the odd and even
subpulses in the scan itself. This measured ␺0 is then
used to compensate the phase errors in the spsp pulse
during the scan. A phase of ⫺␺0 radians is added to the
synthesizer between odd and even subpulses and a
phase of ␺0 radians is added to the synthesizer between
even and odd subpulses. This process accurately elimi-
nates the phase errors in the spsp pulse.
Segments A and B are both flow-compensated to ensure
accurate phase measurement in areas of motion and blood
flow. Another reason is that the two gradient lobes in
segment B prior to gradient lobe C ensure correct phase
measurement in case of eddy currents with longer time
constant because they are equivalent to the dummy gradi-
ent pulses that precede the spsp pulse.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The results shown in this section were implemented on an
Elscint Prestige 1.9T whole body imaging system (Elscint
Ltd. Haifa, Israel).
First we verify experimentally the elimination of odd
magnetization lobes as simulated in Fig. 5. Two gradients
were applied during the spsp pulse excitation: the oscil-
Design of Improved Spectral-Spatial Pulses
lating slice-select gradient G(t) along one direction and a
constant gradient along an orthogonal direction. The con-
stant gradient simulated the spectral axis ␷. A 180° slice-
selective pulse was applied along the third direction. A
spin warp gradient echo sequence imaged the resulting
magnetization. The imaged object was a cylinder with 15
cm diameter and height filled with doped water. The re-
sulting image is shown in Fig. 9. The horizontal axis is the
spectral axis ␷ and the vertical axis is the slice axis z. The
odd magnetization lobe M1 at the center of the ␷ axis (the
␷ ⫽ 0 frequency) is zero as predicted by the simulation.
Next we demonstrate the importance and accuracy of
the calibration prescan sequence for type II spsp pulses.
The head images in Fig. 10 were acquired with a spin-echo
sequence where the 90° pulse was a water-selective spsp
type II pulse similar to the pulse presented in Fig. 5. In
order to ensure coherent water excitation, we ran a prescan
sequence and compensate the unwanted phase shifts ␺0 as
explained before. This compensation is very critical at
off-center slices. The images in Fig. 10a,b were acquired at
4 cm from the magnet center. The images in Fig. 10c,d
were acquired at 5 cm from the center. In Fig. 10a,c we
compensated the unwanted phase shifts ␺0 by adding
phases of opposite signs between subpulses. The fat signal
in these images is perfectly eliminated. In Fig. 10b,d this
compensation was removed, and the fat signal suppression
failed. Note that the fat signal is brighter in Fig. 10d be-
cause this image is further from the center and ␺0 is larger
than in Fig. 10b.
417
FIG. 10. Demonstration of the accu-
racy of the calibration prescan. The im-
ages shown were acquired with a spin-
echo sequence where the 90° pulse
was the water-selective spsp pulse
from Fig. 5. Scan parameters: TR ⫽
500 msec, TE ⫽ 18 msec, FOV ⫽ 23
cm, acquisition matrix ⫽ 256 x 256. a:
Image acquired at z ⫽ 4 cm from the
magnet center. The phase shift ␺0,
measured by the prescan, was com-
pensated by applying phase shifts of
opposite sign between the subpulses.
The fat signal is fully suppressed. b:
Image acquired at z ⫽ 4 cm from the
center. The scan parameters are iden-
tical to the scan in a, but the compen-
sating phase shifts were set to zero. c:
Another slice from the scan in a. z ⫽ 5
cm from the center. ␺0 was compen-
sated and the fat signal is fully sup-
pressed. d: Another slice from the scan
in b. z ⫽ 5 cm from the center. No
phase compensation. Note that the fat
in d is brighter than in b because ␺0 at
z ⫽ 5 cm is larger than at z ⫽ 4 cm.
DISCUSSION
Consistent and reliable fat signal suppression in a clinical
environment is a difficult task due to magnetic field inho-
mogeneity and susceptibility induced by tissue. Next, we
explain why fat signal suppression obtained with spsp
pulses is more robust than fat suppression obtained with
conventional FATSAT pulses.
For scans where many slices are acquired in each TR, an
spsp saturation or excitation pulse excites each slice only
once per TR. On the other hand, a conventional fat saturation
pulse excites each slice every TR/N where N is the number of
slices. Suppose the water resonance moves slightly towards
the frequency of the saturation pulse due to field variation. A
conventional fat saturation pulse will saturate it, whereas an
spsp pulse will very slightly affect it. For example, suppose
we use a spin-echo sequence with a TR of 1 sec and 30 slices
with fat saturation. An spsp pulse excites each slice only
once per second, whereas a FATSAT pulse excites each slice
every 1000/30 ⫽ 33 msec. Therefore, for a given field varia-
tion the water resonance will be much more saturated by the
conventional FATSAT pulse.
Water-selective spsp pulses for low tip angle short TR
gradient echo sequences are a better alternative for fat
suppression than conventional fat saturation pulses which
use large flip angles of 100°–120°. The fat saturation pulse
may saturate the water signal in case of field variation,
whereas the low-tip-angle spsp pulse affects the water
signal much less.
418
An important application of spsp pulses is fat-free time-
of-flight angiography where a type I water-selective spsp
pulse is used (18). In this case only type I pulses can be
used because they are inherently flow-compensated (19).
The advantage of the spsp pulse over a fat saturation pulse
is demonstrated with an example. Suppose we acquire a
3D time-of-flight angiogram of the carotid bifurcation. We
use a receive-only neck coil and transmit with the body
coil. If we use a conventional fat saturation pulse to elim-
inate the fat signal we face two problems: 1) the large tip
angle of the fat saturation pulse (⬎90°) can saturate the
blood signal even with small magnetic field variations, as
explained above; and 2) field variations anywhere from the
heart to the carotid bifurcation will saturate the blood
signal. If the water resonance anywhere in the heart is
shifted and saturated, blood signal will be saturated every-
where, including the carotid bifurcation. By using a low-
tip-angle 3D spsp water-selective excitation pulse we over-
come these problems.
Another advantage of spsp pulses is that we can inde-
pendently vary the spectral selection frequency at each
slice according to the water (or fat) frequency at that slice
(8,20). A prescan sequence measures the water frequency
at every slice and the synthesizer frequency of the spsp
pulse during the scan is modified accordingly. This greatly
improves the quality of fat signal suppression over large
volumes.
The use of an spsp selective excitation pulse or spsp
selective saturation pulse depends on the application.
Both have advantages and drawbacks. An excitation spsp
pulse is used mostly in short TR low-tip-angle scans in
order to avoid the large tip angles of a saturation pulse, as
explained above. Its drawback is its long duration, which
means long TE and increased sensitivity to patient motion
and field inhomogeneity. A saturation spsp pulse is used
mostly in conjunction with spin-echo and fast-spin-echo
scans. A saturation pulse does not affect the TE. Therefore,
pulses with long duration and sharp transition width can
be used. Another advantage is that a saturation pulse can
be used in conjunction with any scan without affecting its
performance. It does not affect the TE, echo space, echo
train length, or any other parameter of the scan. The main
drawback of a saturation pulse is its sensitivity to RF field
(B1) inhomogeneity. When B1 changes, the tip angle
changes and the saturation becomes incomplete.
Another consideration is when to use type I spsp pulses
and when type II. Type I pulses do not require a prescan
calibration and are flow-compensated. On the other hand,
the minimum slice thickness is often too large, especially
at a high field strength where water-fat frequency offset is
large. Type II spsp pulses require a prescan calibration, but
the minimum slice thickness is adequate even at high field
strength.
CONCLUSIONS
In this work we discussed the design of improved spectral-
spatial pulses for fat signal suppression. Pulses for selec-
tive fat saturation and selective water excitation were con-
sidered. Optimal pulses were designed as optimal constant
ripple FIR filters using the inverse SLR transform. Spsp
Zur
pulses with thin slices were obtained by modifying the
phases between subpulses, thereby eliminating unwanted
magnetization lobes. The elimination of unwanted lobes is
critical for saturation spsp pulses. Robust spsp pulses at
off-center slices were obtained with a prescan calibration.
We have shown that spsp pulses suppress fat signal better
than conventional fat saturation pulses. Therefore, we
have replaced all the fat saturation pulses on our scanner
with spsp pulses and obtained a significant improvement
in image quality.
APPENDIX A
In this appendix, we analyze Mxy (z, ␷) for a type II spsp
pulse.
An spsp pulse with N subpulses is equivalent to a se-
quence of N delta pulses with tip angles {␣i} as shown in
Fig. 1. The time between subpulses is ␶. We write the set of
calculated tip angles {␣i} as a sum of the odd subpulses and
the even subpulses with tip angles {␣io} and {␣ie}, respec-
tively. This is demonstrated in Fig. A1 for N ⫽ 6 sub-
pulses.
The precession frequency of a spin at position z and
spectral frequency ␷ during odd and even subpulses, given
by Eq. [6], is fp and fn, respectively. When fp ⫽ ⫺fn the tip
angle of each odd subpulse is different from the tip angle
of an adjacent even subpulse. Therefore, the odd tip angles
of the pulse become A{␣io} and the even tip angles B{␣ie}
where A and B are scalars. The N-pulse excitation function
with tip angles A{␣io} ⫹ B{␣ie} is defined as b(t), and the
odd and even excitation functions A{␣io} and B{␣ie} are
called bo(t) and be(t), respectively. The magnetization gen-
erated by bo(t) and be(t) is Mo and Me respectively and is
shown in Fig. A2. The frequency offset between magneti-
zation lobes in Mo and Me is 1/(2␶) and its amplitude is
proportional to A and B, respectively. Since be(t) is shifted
in time by ␶ seconds from bo(t), the polarity of the lobes in
Me alternates. The magnetization M generated by b(t) is the
FIG. A1. A type II spsp pulse with N ⫽ 6 subpulses and tip angles
{␣} ⫽ ␣1 to ␣6 is divided into odd subpulses with tip angles {␣o} ⫽
␣1, ␣3 and ␣5, and even subpulses with tip angles {␣e} ⫽ ␣2, ␣4
and ␣6.
Design of Improved Spectral-Spatial Pulses
FIG. A2. Generation of magnetization lobes for a type II spsp pulse.
The amplitude of the magnetization lobes Mo generated by the odd
subpulses bo(t) ⫽ A{␣o} is proportional to A. The amplitude of the
magnetization lobes Me generated by be(t) ⫽ B{␣e} is proportional to
B with alternating sign. Their sum, M, consists of alternating lobes
with amplitudes proportional to A ⫹ B and A ⫺ B.
sum of Mo and Me, with lobes of alternating amplitude. M
consists of even lobes M2n, where n ⫽ 0, ⫾1, ⫾2, … with
amplitudes proportional to A ⫹ B and odd lobes M2n⫹1
with amplitudes proportional to A ⫺ B, as shown in Fig.
A2. The frequency offset between an even lobe and an
adjacent odd lobe in M is 1/(2␶). Note that the frequency of
the central even lobe M0 in Fig. A2 is the on resonance
frequency, where the phase ␾ between adjacent subpulses
is zero.
Consider a spin at ␷ ⫽ ␷1 and z ⫽ z1. The precession
frequencies fp and fn are ␥Gz1 ⫹ ␷1 and –␥Gz1 ⫹ ␷1, respec-
tively. For another spin at ␷ ⫽ ⫺␷1 and the same z ⫽ z1 the
precession frequencies fp and fn are ␥Gz1 - ␷1 and ⫺␥Gz1 ⫺
␷1 respectively. In summary:
f p共␯ 1兲 ⫽ ⫺f n共⫺␯ 1兲 [A1]
A and B at any precession frequency f are proportional to
the Fourier transform of the subpulse at f (11). Every RF
subpulse during negative gradient lobes is time-inverted
with respect to every subpulse during positive gradient
lobes. Therefore, the coefficient A of the odd tip angles
{␣io} at any precession frequency f is equal to the coeffi-
419
cient B of the even tip angles {␣ie} at a precession fre-
quency ⫺f:
A共 f 兲 ⫽ B共⫺f 兲 [A2]
From Eqs. [A1] and [A2] we conclude that the amplitudes
of the even lobes and the odd lobes of a spin at (z1, ⫺␷1) are
B ⫹ A and B – A, respectively. That is, for any given z ⫽
z1 the amplitudes of the even lobes M2n are symmetric
with respect to ␷ ⫽ 0 and the amplitudes of the odd lobes
M2n⫹1 are antisymmetric. In a similar way we can show
that for any given ␷ ⫽ ␷1 the amplitudes of M2n are sym-
metric with respect to z and the amplitudes of M2n⫹1 are
antisymmetric. These conclusions are summarized by Eqs.
[7] and [8].
Note that ␷ ⫽ 0 is defined as the center synthesizer
frequency during transmission ␷0, because the amplitudes
A and B are determined by the difference between the
Larmor frequency and the synthesizer frequency during
transmission.
APPENDIX B
In this appendix, we analyze the effect of the phase ␺0
which alternates between odd and even subpulses. The
train of the N subpulses with tip angles {␣i} is written as a
sum of the odd subpulses with tip angles {␣io} and the even
subpulses with tip angles {␣ie}, as shown in Fig. A1. When
␺0 ⫽ 0, the even subpulses {␣ie} are phase shifted by ␺0
radians with respect to {␣io}.This is similar to the analysis
in Appendix A, where the even tip angles were propor-
tional to B. Here the even tip angles are proportional to
exp(i␺0). Therefore, in analogy with Appendix A, the ratio
between the even lobes M2n and the odd lobes M2n⫹1 is:
M 2n⫹1 1 ⫺ exp共i␺ 0兲
⫽ [A3]
M 2n 1 ⫹ exp共i␺ 0兲
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