MRI Pulse Sequence for Enhanced MT and CEST Effects

The patent segments the single high-power MT pulse into multiple lower-power pulses with different frequencies. Instead of applying one high flip angle pulse at a single frequency, the system applies multiple pulses at different frequency offsets (e.g., ±1 ppm, ±2 ppm, ±3 ppm from water frequency), each with lower individual power, thereby distributing the SAR burden while maintaining cumulative MT effect.

The patent changes the frequency parameter of MT pulses from a single frequency to multiple frequencies offset from the water resonance frequency. By varying the frequency offset parameter across multiple pulses and adjusting flip angles for each frequency, the system achieves effective MT contrast while controlling peak SAR through parameter optimization.

The patent segments the frequency spectrum into multiple discrete frequency offsets, each targeting different proton pools (e.g., amide protons at +3.5 ppm, amine protons at +2 ppm, hydroxyl protons at +1 ppm). By applying MT pulses at these segmented frequency points, the system can selectively saturate different proton types and observe their CEST effects on the water signal, enabling multi-component tissue characterization.

The patent creates a multi-functional pulse sequence that can simultaneously target multiple proton pools (amide, amine, hydroxyl, etc.) using a unified approach of frequency-offset MT pulses. This universal sequence design allows observation of CEST effects from various proton types without requiring separate specialized sequences for each proton pool, enhancing versatility while maintaining manageable complexity.