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Inhomogeneities in the transmit radio frequency magnetic field ( ${\text{B}}_{1}^{+}$ ) reduce the quality of magnetic resonance (MR) images. This quality can be improved by using high-permittivity pads that tailor the ${\text{B}}_{1}^{+}$ fields. The design of an optimal pad is application-specific and not straightforward and would therefore benefit from a systematic optimization approach. In this paper, we propose such a method to efficiently design dielectric pads. To this end, a projection-based model order reduction technique is used that significantly decreases the dimension of the design problem. Subsequently, the resulting reduced-order model is incorporated in an optimization method in which a desired field in a region of interest can be set. The method is validated by designing a pad for imaging the cerebellum at 7 T. The optimal pad that is found is used in an MR measurement to demonstrate its effectiveness in improving the image quality.

In this work we present a systematic evaluation of the potential of combining dielectric materials with an array of electric dipoles for MRI. Design parameters include the permittivity and length of a dielectric sleeve, as well as the dipole length and position of the tuning inductors. Results show that the combined approach improves transmit efficiency and SNR by ∼10 to 15 % compared to an optimized dipole array without dielectric sleeve. The resulting induced current densities reflect an improved correspondence with the ideal current pattern, which explains the gains in performance.

High-field MRI reduces the homogeneity of the B 1 + transmit field, which in turn degrades the quality of MR images. High-permittivity pads are increasingly used to restore the homogeneity of this transmit field. Designing such a pad in terms of dimensions, position, and constitution is not trivial, however, and in this work we propose a design method that can be used to find an optimal pad for a certain imaging region of interest. By incorporating a projection based model order reduction technique in a Gauss-Newton optimization method, optimal dielectric pads can be found at significantly reduced computation times. We illustrate the performance of our optimization method by designing a pad for 7T cerebellum imaging and show its effectiveness in an actual MR imaging experiment.