Shifted pulses for simultaneous multi-slice imaging

1. A computer-implemented method for performing multi-slice magnetic resonance imaging with comparable contrast between simultaneously excited slices, the method comprising:

applying a first pulse sequence to a volume of interest to acquire a first k-space dataset, the first pulse sequence comprising a plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses applied in a first predefined order;

applying one or more additional pulse sequences to the volume of interest to acquire one or more additional k-space datasets, each additional pulse sequence comprising the plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses applied in one or more additional predefined orders that are distinct from the first predefined order; and

reconstructing one or more final images using the first k-space dataset and the one or more additional k-space datasets.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more final images are reconstructed by:

averaging the first k-space dataset and the one or more additional k-space datasets to yield a combined k-space dataset; and

reconstructing the one or more final images using the combined k-space dataset.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more final images are reconstructed by:

reconstructing a plurality of images using the first k-space dataset and the one or more additional k-space datasets, each image corresponding to a distinct dataset;

averaging the plurality of images to yield the one or more final images.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more additional predefined orders are defined by cyclically shifting the first predefined order to yield an average inversion time (TI) for all slices in the volume of interest.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences each utilize Short-TI Inversion Recovery (STIR) to null fat in the volume of interest.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences are each a Turbo Inversion Recovery Magnitude (TIRM) sequence.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences are each a Driven Equilibrium Fourier Transform (DEFT) sequence.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences each further comprise a plurality of multi-band slice-selective excitation pulses.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences each further comprise a plurality of multi-band slice-selective refocusing pulses.

10. The method of claim 1 , where the number of pulses included in each of the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences is based on a Simultaneous Multi-Slice (SMS) factor selected by a user.

11. A computer-implemented method for performing multi-slice magnetic resonance imaging, the method comprising:

acquiring a k-space dataset representative of a volume of interest using an acquisition process comprising:

applying a plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses to the volume of interest, wherein the plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses are spaced according to a predefined echo spacing period selected to provide an identical inversion time for each of the plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses,

applying a plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses to the volume of interest, wherein the plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses are spaced according to the predefined echo spacing period, and

generating the k-space dataset using a plurality of echo trains resulting from the plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses; and

reconstructing an image based on the k-space dataset.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the acquisition process further comprises:

following application of the plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses, applying a plurality of multi-band slice-selective pulses to the volume of interest.

13. A system for performing multi-slice magnetic resonance imaging with comparable contrast between simultaneously excited slices, the system comprising:

a Radio Frequency (RF) generator configured to use a plurality of RF coils to:

apply a first pulse sequence to a volume of interest to acquire a first k-space dataset, the first pulse sequence comprising a plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses applied in a first predefined order;

apply one or more additional pulse sequences to the volume of interest to acquire one or more additional k-space datasets, each additional pulse sequence comprising the plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses applied in one or more additional predefined orders that are distinct from the first predefined order;

an image processing computer configured to reconstruct one or more images based on the first k-space dataset and the one or more additional k-space datasets.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein each of the one or more additional predefined orders are defined by cyclically shifting the first predefined order to yield an average inversion time (TI) for all slices in the volume of interest.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences each utilize Short-TI Inversion Recovery (STIR) to null fat in the volume of interest.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences are each a Turbo Inversion Recovery Magnitude (TIRM) sequence.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences are each a Driven Equilibrium Fourier Transform (DEFT) sequence.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences each further comprise a plurality of multi-band slice-selective excitation pulses.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences each further comprise a plurality of multi-band slice-selective refocusing pulses.

20. The system of claim 13 , where the number of pulses included in each of the first pulse sequence and the one or more additional pulse sequences is based on a Simultaneous Multi-Slice (SMS) factor selected by a user.

21. A system for performing multi-slice magnetic resonance, the system comprising:

a Radio Frequency (RF) generator configured to use a plurality of RF coils to:

apply a plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses to a volume of interest, wherein the plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses are spaced according to a predefined echo spacing period selected to provide an identical inversion time for each of the plurality of single-band slice-selective pulses,

apply a plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses to the volume of interest, wherein the plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses are spaced according to the predefined echo spacing period, and

acquire a k-space dataset representative of the volume of interest using a plurality of echo trains resulting from the plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses; and

an image processing computer configured to reconstruct an image based on the k-space dataset.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of RF coils is further used to:

apply a plurality of multi-band slice-selective pulses to the volume of interest, following application of the plurality of single-band slice-selective excitation pulses and one or more single band refocusing pulses between the single-band slice-selective excitation pulses.