(BW) Bandwidth is a measure of frequency range, the range between the highest and lowest frequency allowed in the signal. For analog signals, which can be mathematically viewed as a function of time, bandwidth is the width, measured in Hertz of a frequency range in which the signal's Fourier transform is nonzero.
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The receiver (or acquisition) bandwidth (rBW) is the range of frequencies accepted by the receiver to sample the MR signal. The receiver bandwidth is changeable (see also acronyms for 'bandwidth' from different manufacturers) and has a direct relationship to the signal to noise ratio (SNR) (SNR = 1/squareroot (rBW). The bandwidth depends on the readout (or frequency encoding) gradient strength and the data sampling rate (or dwell time).
Bandwidth is defined by BW = Sampling Rate/Number of Samples.
A smaller bandwidth improves SNR, but can cause spatial distortions, also increases the chemical shift. A larger bandwidth reduces SNR (more noise from the outskirts of the spectrum), but allows faster imaging.
A higher bandwidth is used for the reduction of chemical shift artifacts (lower bandwidth - more chemical shift - longer dwell time - but better signal to noise ratio). Narrow receive bandwidths accentuate this water fat shift by assigning a smaller number of frequencies across the MRI image. This effect is much more significant on higher field strengths. At 1.5 T, fat and water precess 220 Hz apart, which results in a higher shift than in Low Field MRI.
Lower bandwidth (measured in Hz) = higher water fat shift (measured in pixel shift).
Chemical shift depends on the nucleus and its environment and is defined as nuclear shielding / applied magnetic field. Nuclei are shielded by a small magnetic field caused by circulating electrons, termed nuclear shielding. The strength of the shield depends on the different molecular environment in that the nucleus is embedded. Nuclear shielding is the difference between the magnetic field at the nucleus and the applied magnetic field.
Chemical shift is measured in parts per million (ppm) of the resonance frequency relative to another or a standard resonance frequency.
The major part of the MR signal comes from hydrogen protons; lipid protons contribute a minor part. The chemical shift between water and fat nuclei is about 3.5 ppm (~220 Hz; 1.5T). Through this difference in resonance frequency between water and fat protons at the same location, a misregistration (dislocation) by the Fourier Transformation take place, when converting MR signals from frequency to spatial domain. This effect is called chemical shift artifact or chemical shift misregistration artifact.
During frequency encoding, fat protons precess slower than water protons in the same slice because of their magnetic shielding. Through the difference in resonance frequency between water and fat, protons at the same location are misregistrated (dislocated) by the Fourier transformation, when converting MRI signals from frequency to spatial domain. This chemical shift misregistration cause accentuation of any fat-water interfaces along the frequency axis and may be mistaken for pathology. Where fat and water are in the same location, this artifact can be seen as a bright or dark band at the edge of the anatomy.
Protons in fat and water molecules are separated by a chemical shift of about 3.5 ppm. The actual shift in Hertz (Hz) depends on the magnetic field strength of the magnet being used. Higher field strength increases the misregistration, while in contrast a higher gradient strength has a positive effect. For a 0.3 T system operating at 12.8 MHz the shift will be 44.8 Hz compared with a 223.6 Hz shift for a 1.5 T system operating at 63.9 MHz.
The complex numbers extend the real numbers by including the imaginary unit i (satisfying i2 = - 1). The term 'complex' when used as an adjective means that the field of complex numbers is as the underlying number field considered. In MRI, complex data are used for example in the Fourier transforms.
• View the DATABASE results for 'Complex Data' (3).
Convolution is a mathematical way of combining two signals to form a third signal. It is the single most important technique in digital signal processing. This operation is mostly used together with Fourier transformations for MRI signal / image processing.
• View the DATABASE results for 'Convolution' (2).