Patent ID: 9696400
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G01R

Claim:
1. A method to optimize a pulse sequence in order to then operate a magnetic resonance system in order to acquire magnetic resonance data from a subject, said method comprising: accessing a protocol database in order to obtain a control protocol that comprises an electronic designation of a pulse sequence as an input to a processor, said pulse sequence including at least one refocusing pulse that has a pulse duration and a bandwidth that makes said refocusing pulse effective in a slice thickness of the subject, one slice selection gradient pulse having a pulse duration, and one gradient spoiler pulse having a pulse shape and a spoiler moment, said pulse sequence, when executed by said magnetic resonance system, producing noise at a noise volume; in said processor, automatically executing a pulse sequence optimization algorithm in order to reduce said noise volume, in which said pulse duration of said refocusing pulse is iteratively shortened by an amount that changes the slice thickness in which said refocusing pulse is effective, and in which said pulse duration of the slice selection gradient pulse is iteratively adapted to each iterative shortening of the pulse duration of the refocusing pulse by iteratively increasing an amplitude of the slice selection gradient pulse in order to cause a slice thickness to be selected by the slice selection gradient pulse that makes said refocusing pulse effective in the same slice thickness as existed before each iteration that shortens the pulse duration of the refocusing pulse; also in the execution of said pulse sequence optimization algorithm in said processor, iteratively adapting said pulse shape of the gradient spoiler pulse to each iterative adaptation of the slice selection gradient pulse, without changing the spoiler moment, so as to achieve, at an end of said pulse sequence optimization algorithm, a refocusing pulse in said pulse sequence that has an optimally shortened pulse duration of the refocusing pulse that occurs when, by a totality of the iterations of adapting the pulse shape of the gradient spoiler pulse, a maximum amplitude of the gradient spoiler pulse becomes equal to the amplitude of the slice selection gradient pulse and an edge steepness of the gradient spoiler pulse becomes minimized; and making the pulse sequence produced at the end of said pulse sequence optimization algorithm, which has the refocusing pulse with said optimally shortened duration, the slice selection gradient pulse with the adapted pulse duration and the adapted amplitude, along with the gradient spoiler pulse with the adapted pulse shape, available at an output of the processor in electronic form that is in a format configured to use said pulse sequence in order to operate said magnetic resonance system with said noise volume being reduced.