Optimal use of pre-emphasis gradients for magnetic resonance imaging

Selective excitation pulses are widely used in magnetic resonance imaging to excite only a specific region (slice) within the body of interest. Recently, a design algorithm has been developed than provides a direct solution to the generally nonlinear problem. However, as is the case in all differential problems, the result of the excitation is strongly dependent on the initial conditions. In this paper, we will show that when the magnetization is not initially at rest, the result of the radiofrequency pulse provokes a sinusoidal ripple depending on the excitation angle and the selection gradient. However, thus providing a second coding mechanism, that can be used to provide a general technique resulting in a uniform excitation