Prospective Compensation of Second-order Concomitant Fields in a High-performance Gradient System using a Second Order Harmonic Shim Coil

The use of higher-performance gradient coils results in stronger second-order concomitant magnetic fields, which can lead to image artifacts such as signal dropout, blurring, and phase errors that cannot be corrected by pre-emphasis of gradient waveforms and/or radio frequency modulation alone. We have developed an axially symmetric second-order field coil that is insertable, and demonstrate its ability to prospectively correct the additional phase generated by second-order concomitant fields in 2D phase contrast and spiral-out gradient echo imaging in a 3.0 T high-performance head-gradient (MAGNUS) system.