L S Models and

N I Equations for
RF-Pulse
Design*
Charles L. Epstein, PhD
Departments of Mathematics and
Radiology
University of Pennsylvania

*This lecture is dedicated to the memory of

NMR pioneer, and my former Penn colleague

Jack Leigh, 1939-2008

 Declaration of Conflict of
Interest or Relationship
Speaker Name:Charles L. Epstein

I am the author of an “Introduction to the Mathematics of Medical

Imaging,” published by SIAM Press, which bears some relationship
to the topic of this talk.
 RF-pulse design

In essentially every application of

NMR, one needs to selectively excite
spins, and this requires the design of
an RF-pulse envelope.
We discuss the problem of designing an
RF-envelope to attain a specified
transverse magnetization, as a function
of the offset frequency, for a single
species of spins, assuming that there is
no relaxation.
The message of this talk is that this
problem, which has retained a certain
mystique among MR-physicists, has an
exact solution, with efficient numerical
implementations, not much harder than
the Fast Fourier Transform.

THERE IS AN
ALGORITHMIC SOLUTION.
 Outline
1. The Bloch Equation
2. Non-selective pulses
3. The problem of selective pulse design
4. Small flip angle pulses: the Fourier method
5. Large flip angle pulses
I. The Spin Domain Bloch Equation (SBDE)
II. Scattering and and Inverse Scattering for the
SBDE
III. Selective pulse design and the Inverse
Scattering Transform
6. The hard pulse approximation
7. SLR
8. DIST
9. Examples
 The Bloch equation

In MRI, the process of RF-pulse design

begins with a single mathematical model,
the Bloch Phenomenological Equation,
without relaxation: dM
BM
dt
Here M  (M x , M y , M z ) denotes the
bulk magnetization produced by the
nuclear spins, and B  (Bx , By , Bz )
denotes the applied magnetic induction
field.
 The B-Field

The B-field has three constituent parts:

B  B0  B1 (t)  G(r,t).
We choose coordinates so that B0=(0,0,b0).
i 0 t
B1 (t)  (e (1 (t)  i 2 (t)),0)
We write vectors in R3, as a complex
number, paired with a real number,
(a+ib,c).  0   b0 is the Larmor
frequency defined by the background
field.
 The gradient fields

The gradients are quasi-static fields,

G(r,t), which produce a spatial variation
in the Larmor frequency. We use f to
denote the offset frequency, or local
change in the Larmor frequency.
 The Rotating Reference Frame

In the sequel, we work with in the

rotating reference defined by B0. The
magnetization in this frame, m(t), is
given by:

 mx (t)  cos  0t sin  0t 0  M x (t)

 m (t)    sin  t cos  0t 0  M y (t) .
 y   0
 
 m (t)  0 0 1  M z (t)
z
 The Bloch Equation in the Rotating Frame

The vector m(t) satisfies the differential

equation:
 mx (t)  0 f  2 (t)   mx (t)
d
my (t)   f 0 1 (t)  my (t) .
dt     
 mz (t)   2 (t) 1 (t) 0   mz (t)

Recall that f is the offset frequency, and

the RF-envelope, (1 (t)  i 2 (t),0) is the B1
field in the rotating frame.
The problem of selective pulse design
reduces to that of understanding how
solutions to the Bloch equation
depends on the the B1-field. That is,
how does m(f;t) depend on
( 1 (t)  i 2 (t), 0)?
While, this dependence is non-
linear, it can still be understood
in great detail.
Linear versus non-linear dependence
 Non-selective pulses

The easiest case to analyze is when

there is no gradient field, (so f=0) and
the B1-field is aligned along a fixed axis:
B1 (t)  (1 (t), 0, 0).
In this situation the excitation is non-
selective. Starting from equilibrium
m(0)=(0,0,1), at time t the magnetization
is rotated about the x-axis through an
angle  (t) where:
The flip angle: t

 (t)    1 (s)ds
0
 Selective pulse design

In the basic problem of selective RF-

pulse design:
The data is: a target magnetization
profile: mtar(f)=(mtarx(f), mtary(f), mtarz(f)).
The goal: To find an RF-envelope:
(1 (t)  i 2 (t), 0)
non-zero in [0,T] so that at time T:
 mx ( f ;T )  cos  0  sin  0 0  mxtar ( f )
 m ( f ;T )   sin   cos  0 0  mytar ( f ) .
 y   0
  tar 
 m f ;(T )   0 0 1  mz ( f )
z
As noted above, the map from the RF-
envelope (1 (t)  i 2 (t), 0) to m(f;T)
is non-linear, so the problem of RF-
pulse design is as well.
 The small flip angle approximation
While the general pulse design problem
is non-linear, so long as the maximum
desired flip angle is “small”, a very
simple linear approximation suffices:
d(m1 ( f ;t)  im2 ( f ;t))
 if (m1 ( f ;t)  im2 ( f ;t))  i (1 (t)  i 2 (t))
dt

Starting at equilibrium, the solution

at time T is:
T

m1 ( f ;T )  im2 ( f ;T )  ieifT   ( 1 (s)  i 2 (s))eisf ds

0
 If we set (t)  i (1 (t)  i 2 (t)), then
the solution at time T, is easily
expressed in terms of the Fourier 
transform of  x m ( f ;T )  im y ( f ;T )  e ifT
( f )

Since we want m(f;T) to be m ( f )  im ( f ), tar

x
tar
y

applying the inverse Fourier transform we

find that:

1
(t)   x 
tar tar ift
(m ( f ) im ( f ))e dt
2
y

 Small flip angle examples

We illustrate the Fourier method by

designing pulses intended to excite
a window of width 2000Hz with
transition regions of 200Hz on
either side. Below are pulses with
flip angles 30, 90, and 140, and
the transverse components they
produce starting from equilibrium.
30 Fourier pulse
90 Fourier pulse
140 Fourier pulse
 2D, 3D, Spatial-Spectral-Pulses

The small flip angle approximation

can also be used to design 2D, 3D
and spatial-spectral pulses. One
combines varying gradients, and
the formalism of excitation k-space
to interpret the solution of the
linearized Bloch equation as an
approximation to a higher
dimensional Fourier transform.
 General properties of pulses

1. Sharp transitions in the pulse

envelope produce “ringing” in
the magnetization profile
2. A longer pulse is needed to
produce a sharp transition in
the magnetization profile.
3. Shifting an envelope in time
leads to a linear phase change
in the profile.
 “Large” flip angle pulses
The Spin Domain Bloch Equation

The starting point for direct, large flip

angle pulse design is the Spin Domain
Bloch Equation (SDBE). The SDBE is
related, in a simple way, to the Bloch
equation for the magnetization, which is
the quantum mechanical observable.
 The spinor representation

We represent the spin state as a pair of

complex numbers   ( 1 , 2 )
such that | 1 |  |  2 |  1
2 2

It is related to the magnetization by

m  (mx  imy ,mz )  (2  ,|  1 |  |  2 | )

*
1 2
2 2
 Spin Domain Bloch Equation

The vector  is a function of time, and

the spin domain offset frequency f  2..
It solves the Spin Domain Bloch
Equation:
d  i q(t)
(;t)   *  (;t)
dt  q (t) i 

q(t)  ( 2 (t)  i1 (t)).
Where 2
We call q(t) the “potential function”.
 Scattering theory for the SDBE

In applications to NMR, the

potential function q(t) is nonzero in
a finite interval [t 0 ,t1 ].
For t<t0, the function 1 (;t)  (e ,0)
it

is a solution to the SDBE, representing

the equilibrium state. There are
functions of the frequency, (a( ),b( ))
so that, for t  t1
1 (;t)  (a( )e it
,b( )e ).
it
Scattering by an RF-envelope
 Scattering data and the target profile

The functions, a and b are called the

scattering coefficients.If m(f;t) is the
corresponding solution of the Bloch
Equation, then, for t>t1, we have the
fundamental relation:
b( ) mx (2;t)  imy (2;t) 2it
r( )   e
a( ) 1  mz (2;t)
2it
The exponential e is connected
to rephasing.
The right hand side does not depend
on time! The function r( ) is called
the reflection coefficient. To define a
selective excitation we specify a
target magnetization profile. This is
equivalent to specifying a reflection
coefficient:

 f  m ( f )  im ( f )
tar tar
x y
r   .
 2 1  mz ( f )
tar
 Parseval relation

The potential q(t) and the scattering

coefficient r() are like a Fourier
transform pair. They satisfy a non-
linear Parseval relation:

2
 |  (t)  i (t) | dt   log 1 | r( ) | d
2 2
1 2
 2

 1 
Power  W log 
 180   
 Pulse design and Inverse Scattering

mtar(f) (1 (t)  i 2 (t),0)

Stereographic
projection

r( ) q(t)
IST
 Truth in advertising

The inverse scattering problem has

optional auxiliary parameters, called
bound states. This means that there are
infinitely many different solutions to any
pulse design problem. If no auxiliary
parameters are specified, then one
obtains the minimum energy solution.
No more will be said about this topic
today.
 The classical IST
The inverse scattering transform finds
q(t) given r(). To find q(t), for each t, we
can solve an integral equation of the
form:


kt (s)   F(t, x)kt (x)dx  g(t  s)

t

The potential is found from:

q(t)  2kt (t).
 The hard pulse approximation

We model the RF-pulse envelope as a

sum of equally spaced Dirac delta
functions:

qh (t)    j (t  j)

The Shinnar-Leigh-Le Roux (SLR)

method of pulse design makes
essential use of the SPDE and the
hard pulse approximation.
Hard pulse approximation
 Hard Pulse Recursion Equation

A limiting solution to the SDBE has jumps

at the times {j}, and freely precesses in
the gradient field between the jumps. At
the jumps we have a simple recursion
relation (HPRE):
 A j 1 (w)   j     A j (w)
*
j
 B (w)   w 
w j   B j (w)
j 1  j

Where:
 *j 1  cos |  j |
we 2i j   j  1 |  j |2
| j | 2
 Scattering theory for the Hard Pulse Recursion
Equation

Let (Aj  (w), Bj  (w)) denote the solution to

the recursion that tends to (1,0) as the
index j   then the reflection
coefficient , R(w), is the limit:
j
lim w Bj  (w)
R(w) 
j   Aj  (w)
If we choose the spacing  sufficiently
small, then this function is related to the
target magnetization profile by:

 log w 
R(w)  r  
 2i 
 Inverse scattering for the HPRE and pulse design

The pulse design problem is now

reduced to solving the inverse
scattering problem for the HPRE:
Find a sequence of coefficients
j so that the reflection coefficient
is a good approximation to that
defined by the target magnetization
profile.
SLR and DIST can be used to
solve this problem
 SLR as an inverse scattering algorithm

First we find polynomials, (A(w),B(w)),

so that the ratio B(w)/A(w) is, in some
sense, an approximation to R(w). In
most implementations of SLR, one first
chooses a polynomial B(w), so that
|B(w)|2 is a good approximation to:
2
| R(w) |
2
1 | R(w) |
Note that the flip angle is:

 (w)  2sin (| B(w) |)

1

A polynomial A(w) is then determined

using the relation:
| A(w) |  | B(w) |  1 for |w|=1.
2 2

The phase of B(w) is then selected using

standard filter design tools.
 SLR schematic

Polynomial Hilbert
design transform

R(w) |B(w)| (A(w),B(w))

Inverse SLR

{j}
A limitation of this approach is that the
phase of the magnetization profile is
not specified, but is “recovered” in the
process of finding the polynomial A(w)
and the choice of phase for B(w). On
the other hand, the duration of the
pulse is specified, in advance by the
choice of  and the degree of the
polynomial B(w).
 The Discrete Inverse Scattering Transform
(DIST)

The DIST is another approach to

solving the inverse scattering
problem for the (HPRE). With DIST
we directly approximate R(w):
N1
RD (w)   rj w j
jM

The upper limit N1, specifies the

rephasing time to be N1.
(AN1  (w), BN1  (w))  (1,0)
 DIST Schematic

“Polynomial”
design

R(w) Rapp(w)

DIST transform

(Aj(w),Bj(w); {j} )
•The DIST algorithm provides direct
control on the phase, flip angle and
rephasing time.
•It sacrifices direct control on the
duration of the pulse.
•Both algorithms have an approx-
imation step and a recursion step.
•The recursion steps have a computa-
tional complexity similar to that of the
Fast Fourier Transform.
DIST and SLR examples

These pulses are designed with

the indicated algorithms to produce
flip angle 140 in a 2kHz window,
with a .2 kHz transition band on
either side. The nominal rephasing
time is 5ms.
 140 pulses

SLR DIST
Magnetization profiles
SLR DIST
 Multi-band pulses

SLR DIST
 Start band End band Flip angle Phase
-1 kHz 1 kHz 140 degrees 0 degrees
1 kHz 3 kHz 90 degrees 60 degrees

SLR DIST
 Acknowledgements
• Thanks to my collaborator Jeremy
Magland for his help
understanding this subject and for
creating MR pulsetool.
• Thanks to Felix Wehrli and LSNI.
• Research partially supported by*
• NIH R01-AR050068, R01-AR053156
• DARPA: HR00110510057
• NSF: DMS06-03973

*Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or

recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIH,
NSF, or DARPA.