High-fidelity PSF reconstruction for fast and silent MRI using nonlinear spatially encoding gradient fields switched at 20kHz

Acoustic noise in MRI scans can be reduced by utilising gradient switching frequencies at 20kHz. High slew rates required to achieve such high-frequency switching can lead to peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), adding difficulty for application to whole-body gradients. Instead, nonlinear encoding gradients have been shown to limit PNS while achieving desired slew rates. In this work, we show the feasibility of using a nonlinear silent gradient for spatial encoding by employing a PSF-based reconstruction and investigate image fidelity on a 4-fold accelerated in-vivo scan. This method could potentially be utilised for a whole-body gradient design for silent and fast MRI.