Patent ID: 7495439

Claim:
A method for producing an image of a desired spin species with a magnetic resonance imaging system, the image having reduced artifacts due to B 0 field inhomogeneities due to magnetic susceptibility effects, the method comprising: a) performing a preparatory stage of an MR pulse sequence with the MRI system in which a non-selective RF preparatory pulse is produced having a bandwidth centered at a selected frequency which is offset from a nominal Larmor frequency of the desired spin species being imaged to increase a spectral coverage of the non-selective RF preparatory pulse over a non-selective RF preparatory pulse having a bandwidth centered at the nominal Larmor frequency, and a time period (TI) elapses during which longitudinal spin magnetization recovers; and b) performing an imaging stage of the MR pulse sequence when the TI elapses in which an RF excitation pulse is generated to produce transverse spin magnetization of the desired spin species, and in which a set of NMR signals are acquired that sample k-space; and c) reconstructing an image using the acquired NMR signals.