Patent ID: 7078900

Claim:
An MRI apparatus comprising: a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet to impress a polarizing magnetic field and an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module to transmit RF signals to an RF coil assembly to acquire MR images; and a computer programmed to: (A) model a SAR constrained minimum TR for a given pulse sequence; (B) adjust strength of a B 1 pulse of the pulse sequence based on the model; (C) determine if the strength of the B 1 pulse is inside a range of acceptable B 1 field strength values; and if so, commence imaging, and if not, (D) repeat (A)–(C) until strength of the B 1 pulse is adjusted to a value minimally inside the range of acceptable B 1 field strength values; wherein the computer is further programmed to decrement the strength of the B 1 pulse if the SAR constrained minimum TR exceeds a non-SAR constrained minimum TR and increment the strength of the B 1 pulse if the SAR constrained minimum TR is less than the non-SAR constrained minimum TR.