MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

Lesson title: BASIC IMAGING PRINCIPLES (BACK Materials:

PROJECTION IMAGING & SLICE SELECTION) Electronic gadget, pen, & notebook

Learning Targets:
At the end of the module, students will be able to: References:
1. Identify back projection imaging and its relationship to the
MRI scanning; Hornak, J. P. (2020). The basics of MRI.
2. Describe the operations done by slice selection; and, https://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/inside.htm
3. List the slice selection process.

A. LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW

Let us have a quick review of what you have learned from the previous session. Kindly answer the posted task/question
on the space provided. You may use the back page of this sheet, if necessary.

Describe the significance of SNR in MRI scanning.

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B. MAIN LESSON

BACK PROJECTION IMAGING

 This is a form of MRI. It was one of the first forms of MRI to be
demonstrated.
 Back projection is an extension of the frequency encoding procedure just
described.
 In the back projection technique, the object is first placed in a magnetic
field.
o A one-dimensional field gradient is applied at several angles,
and the NMR spectrum is recorded for each gradient.
 For example, say you wished to produce an YZ plane image of an
object.
o A magnetic field gradient in the +Y direction is applied to the
object and an NMR spectrum is recorded.

 Back projection is the oldest and simplest projection reconstruction

method.
 This method has been likened to drawing the floor plan of a house by
looking in the windows.
o Even though we may only be able to look into the house from
the outside, by circling the house and looking into each window,
we can draw a reasonable plan.
o Of course, the more windows, the easier it will be to construct an accurate representation.

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 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

o Although no longer used in its most basic form, this

method continues to serve as the fundamental basis of
several more effective procedures currently employed in
image reconstruction.
 At any point along a recorded projection, the value of the
absorbance is a summation of all the absorbance contributions
along the path.
 The easiest assumption to be made about the nature of this
pattern of absorbance is that it is uniform along path.
o This is equivalent to assuming that the object is
completely homogeneous and that the attenuation arises
equally from all points along the path.
 The values along the projection are “back projected” into a pixel
grid the size of the image field-of-view (FOV).
o Using the known values of the projection angle and the
distance along the projection, the measured attenuation is
divided up equally among the pixels along the
measurement beam path.
 A second spectrum is recorded with the gradient now at a one
degree angle θ to the +Y axis.
o The process is repeated for the 360° between 0° and
359°.
o Once this data has been recorded the data can be back
projected through space in computer memory.

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 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

 Once the background intensity is suppressed an image can be seen. The actual back projection scheme is called
the inverse Radon transform.
 In a conventional 90-FID imaging sequence, this procedure might be applied with aid of following pulse sequence.
o Varying the angle γ of gradient is accomplished by the application of linear combinations of two gradients.
o Here the Y and X gradients are applied in the following proportions to achieve the required frequency
encoding gradient Gf.

 For the back projection technique to be a viable tomographic imaging technique, we need to have the ability to
image the spins in a thin slice.
o The Gz gradient in the last graphic accomplishes this.

SLICE SELECTION
 In MRI, this is the selection of spins in a plane through the
object.
 This is a fundamental operation applied in almost every
imaging sequence.
o It requires an interacting between the spins in the
magnet, the applied gradient and radiofrequency
(RF) pulses.
 The principle behind slice selection is explained by the
resonance equation.
 This is achieved by applying a one-dimensional, linear
magnetic field gradient during the period that the RF pulse is
applied.
 A 90° pulse applied in conjunction with a magnetic field
gradient will rotate spins which are located in a slice or plane

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 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

through the object.

 A 90° pulse contains a band of frequencies. This can be
seen by employing the convolution theorem.
o The frequency content of a square 90° pulse is
shaped as a sinc pulse.
o The animation window displays the real
components of this pulse.
o The amplitude of sinc function is largest at the
frequency of the RF which was turned on and
off.
o This frequency will be rotated by 90° while other
smaller and greater frequencies will be rotated
by lesser angles.

 The application of this 90° pulse with a magnetic field

gradient in the x direction will rotate some of the spins in
a plane perpendicular to the x axis by 90°.
o A solution to the poor slice profile is to shape the
90° pulse in the shape of a sinc pulse.

 A back projection tomographic image can be achieved

by the application of the following pulses:
o An apodized sinc pulse shaped 90° pulse is
applied in conjunction with a slice selection
gradient.
o A frequency encoding gradient is turned on once
the slice selection pulse is turned off.
o The frequency encoding gradient is composed of
a Gx and Gy gradient in this example.
o The FIDs are Fourier transformed to produce the
frequency domain spectrum, which is then back
projected to produce the image.

 The back projection imaging technique is highly

educational but never used in state of the art imagers.

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 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

How does slice selection work?

The first part of localizing the signal is to localize it the location of the axial slice within the object being imaged. This is
known as slice selection. The way this is done is by using the RF pulse to select which slice to activate (i.e. which slice
will have the magnetic vector of its nuclei flipped to the transverse plane in order to return a signal).

1. Apply gradient.
- A magnetic field gradient is applied in the Z-axis superimposed on the background magnetic field.
- Going back to the Larmor equation, the frequency of precession depends on the magnetic field.
- This means that nuclei will have different frequencies throughout the z-axis.

2. Select slice.
- An RF pulse is applied to flip the magnetization of nuclei into transverse plane and, therefore, give a signal.
- Remember, to flip the precession of the nuclei the RF pulse frequency should be the same as the Larmor
frequency of the nuclei.
- As the Larmor frequency of nuclei is different along the z-axis we can select a slice to activate by altering the
frequency of the RF pulse.

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 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

3. Reset.
- As the frequencies are different along the gradient, the nuclei begin to precess out of phase.
- Before selecting the next slice, the nuclei should be reset.
- This is done by temporarily reversing the gradient to reverse the precessional frequencies.
- The nuclei then rephase.

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 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

Check for Understanding

After studying the main lesson, you may now answer the following multiple choice questions and provide the rationale for
each item.

1. This is known to be an extension of the frequency encoding procedure.

a. NRM Spectrum
b. Plane Image
c. Back Projection
d. Inverse Radon Transform
Answer: ________
Rationale:
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2. The actual back projection scheme is called:

a. NRM Spectrum
b. Plane Image
c. Back Projection
d. Inverse Radon Transform
Answer: ________
Rationale:
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3. This requires an interacting between the spins in the magnet, the applied gradient and RF pulses.
a. Radiofrequency
b. Slice selection
c. 90° pulse
d. Sinc pulse
Answer: ________
Rationale:
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4. The back projection imaging technique is not educational and never used in state of the art imagers.
a. This statement is true.
b. This statement is not true.
c. This statement is fictional.
d. This statement needs more data.
Answer: ________
Rationale:
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This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION

 MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
Module #9 Student Activity Sheet

Name: _________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

5. This is applied to flip the magnetization of nuclei into transverse plane and, therefore, give a signal.
a. Larmor frequency
b. Radiofrequency pulse
c. Z-axis slice
d. Magnetic field
Answer: ________
Rationale:
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C. LESSON WRAP-UP

Summary / Frequently Asked Questions:

 A magnetic field gradient is applied in the z-axis.

 The Larmor frequencies of the nuclei vary along the z-axis.

 An RF pulse with a frequency matching the Larmor frequency of the nuclei we want to select is applied.

 In this way, a slice along the z-axis is selected (correlates with an axial slice of the patient).

 The phases of the nuclei are reset by reversing the gradients.

Thinking about Learning

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (AFTER A LESSON)

This strategy focuses on the assessment of your learnings after a lesson. You must answer the following questions, as
honestly as possible, based on your own understanding.
1. What specific part of the Main Lesson for this session do you find the most confusing?
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2. What makes your answer in #1 confusing? What is the question in your mind?
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3. Since that is your most confusing lesson, what are the interventions that you must do to understand the topic?
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