Systems and methods for in-phase zero echo time magnetic resonance imaging

1. A method for zero echo time (ZTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed by a magnetic resonance (MR) system, the method comprising:

obtaining Larmor frequencies of water and/or fat for a region of interest of a subject to be imaged at a pre-scan;

setting a center frequency for a radio frequency (RF) transceiver of the MR system at a value between the Larmor frequencies of water and fat;

applying a ZTE pulse sequence to the subject;

receiving MR signals in response to the ZTE pulse sequence from the subject;

demodulating the received MR signals with the center frequency; and

generating an in-phase ZTE image from the demodulated MR signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the center frequency comprises setting the center frequency around a midpoint between the Larmor frequencies of water and fat.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the center frequency is within a range of the midpoint ±25% of a difference between the Larmor frequencies of water and fat.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the center frequency comprises setting the center frequency about 110 Hz below the Larmor frequency of water while about 110 Hz above the Larmor frequency of fat for a magnetic field of 1.5 Tesla.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the center frequency comprises setting the center frequency about 220 Hz below the Larmor frequency of water while about 220 Hz above the Larmor frequency of fat for a magnetic field of 3 Tesla.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ZTE pulse is one of RUFIS sequence, BLAST sequence, WASPI sequence, PETRA sequence, RHE, and combinations thereof.

7. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:

a magnet configured to generate a static magnetic field;

gradient coils configured to generate encoding gradients;

a radio frequency (RF) transceiver; and

a processor connected to the magnet, the gradient coils, and the RF transceiver, the processor being configured to:

instruct the MRI system to perform a pre-scan to obtain Larmor frequencies of water and/or fat in the static magnetic field for a region of interest of a subject to be imaged at a pre-scan; and

set a center frequency for the RF transceiver at a value between the Larmor frequencies of water and fat;

wherein the RF transceiver is configured to:

generate an RF excitation, wherein the RF excitation is applied to the subject while the encoding gradients are active;

receive MR signals in response to the RF excitation from the subject; and

demodulate the received MR signals with the center frequency;

wherein the RF excitation and the encoding gradients form a zero echo time (ZTE) pulse sequence.

8. The MRI system of claim 7 , wherein the RF transceiver comprises:

a frequency synthesizer configured to generate an RF carrier wave at the center frequency; and

a demodulator configured to demodulate the received MR signals with the center frequency,

wherein the demodulator receives a copy of the RF carrier wave from the frequency synthesizer.

9. The MRI system of claim 8 , wherein the RF transceiver further comprises:

a modulator configured to modulate the RF carrier wave to generate a modulated RF carrier wave; and

a transmit attenuator configured to attenuate the modulated RF carrier wave to generate the RF excitation.

10. The MRI system of claim 9 , further comprising a transmit coil configured to apply the RF excitation to the subject.

11. The MRI system of claim 8 , wherein the RF transceiver further comprises:

a receive attenuator configured to attenuate the received MR signals;

a low-pass filter configured to filter the demodulated MR signals;

an analog to digital converter configured to convert the filtered MR signal into digital signals; and

a digital quadrature detector configured to generate values reflecting the received MR signals.

12. The MRI system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to reconstruct an in-phase image from the demodulated MR signals.

13. The MRI system of claim 7 , wherein the center frequency is within a range of a midpoint of the Larmor frequencies of water and fat ±25% of a difference between the Larmor frequencies of water and fat.

14. The MRI system of claim 7 , wherein the static magnetic field is 1.5 Tesla, and wherein setting the center frequency comprises setting the center frequency about 110 Hz below the Larmor frequency of water while about 110 Hz above the Larmor frequency of fat.

15. The MRI system of claim 7 , wherein the static magnetic field is 3 Tesla, and wherein setting the center frequency comprises setting the center frequency about 220 Hz below the Larmor frequency of water while about 220 Hz above the Larmor frequency of fat.

16. A method for processing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data performed by a computer system, the method comprising:

receiving k-space raw data obtained by zero echo time (ZTE) acquisition;

demodulating the raw data with a frequency between Larmor frequencies of water and fat for a region of interest of an imaging subject; and

generating an in-phase ZTE image from the demodulated raw data.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the frequency for demodulation is within a range of a midpoint of the Larmor frequencies of water and fat ±25% of a difference between the Larmor frequencies of water and fat.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the frequency for demodulation is 110 Hz below the Larmor frequency of water while about 110 Hz above the Larmor frequency of fat when the ZTE acquisition is at a 1.5 Tesla magnetic field.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the frequency for demodulation is 220 Hz below the Larmor frequency of water while about 220 Hz above the Larmor frequency of fat when the ZTE acquisition is at a 3 Tesla magnetic field.