Patent ID: 8339138
Filing Date: 2012-12-25
Classification: G01R

Abstract:
1. A method of magnetic resonance imaging comprising: positioning an insert gradient system within a bore of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the MRI system comprising a body gradient system; placing a subject to be imaged within the insert gradient system; transmitting a radio frequency (RF) pulse sequence into the subject; driving the insert gradient system and the body gradient system concurrently with currents to produce a composite magnetic field gradient within the subject, wherein the composite magnetic field gradient includes at least one of (i) a composite readout gradient comprising a combination of a first readout gradient from the body gradient system and a second readout gradient from the insert gradient system, (ii) a composite phase encoding gradient comprising a combination of a first phase encoding gradient from the body gradient system and a second phase encoding gradient from the insert gradient system, or (iii) a composite slice select gradient comprising a combination of a first slice select gradient from the body gradient system and a second slice select gradient from the insert gradient system, or any combination of (i), (ii), and (iii); after the driving, receiving signals emitted from the subject; and processing the received signals into an MRI image of the subject.