Phase-scrambled RF excitation for 3D volume-selective multislice NMR imaging

An RF excitation technique with which one can improve the effective dynamic range of the receiver and reduce the interference between slices for 3D volume-selective multislice MRI is described. The basic idea of the technique is to use phase scrambling in conjunction with slice encoding through the use of RF pulses. The spins in each slice are encoded by RF pulses which have the scrambled as well as slice-encoded phase components along the slice-selection direction. The scrambled, or randomly distributed, phase reduces the peak signal intensity, thereby reducing the dynamic range of the signal. Since the proposed technique utilizes RF slice encoding together with phase scrambling, interslice image interference is greatly reduced and the dynamic range is improved. In addition, the method has several advantages such as a reduction in the power requirement for the RF pulses and the elimination of the necessity for hardware such as nonlinear gradient coils.