Nonlinear Gradient Field Mapping Using a Spherical Grid Phantom for 3 and 7 Tesla MR Imaging Systems Equipped with High-performance Gradient Coils.

Recent high-performance gradient coils are fabricated mainly at the expense of spatial linearity. In this study, we measured the spatial nonlinearity of the magnetic field generated by the gradient coils of two MRI systems with high-performance gradient coils. The nonlinearity of the gradient fields was measured using 3D gradient echo sequences and a spherical phantom with a built-in lattice structure. The spatial variation of the gradient field was approximated to the 3rd order polynomials. The coefficients of the polynomials were calculated using the steepest descent method. The geometric distortion of the acquired 3D MR images was corrected using the polynomials and compared with the 3D images corrected using the harmonic functions provided by the MRI venders. As a result, it was found that the nonlinearity correction formulae provided by the vendors were insufficient and needed to be verified or corrected using a geometric phantom such as used in this study.