Improved magnetic resonance imaging systems, methods and software are described including a low field strength main magnet, a gradient coil assembly, an RF coil system, and a control system configured for the acquisition and processing of magnetic resonance imaging data from a patient while utilizing a sparse sampling imaging technique.

A method for recording scan data of an examination object which includes spins of at least two different spin species by means of a magnetic resonance system. The method includes: radiating in a composite RF pulse, for example, a binomial pulse comprising at least two subpulses; switching bipolar slice selection gradients so that successive subpulses of the composite RF pulse are encoded with differently polarized slice selection gradients; recording as scan data magnetic resonance signals triggered by the composite RF pulse; and storing and/or further processing the recorded scan data, wherein the subpulses are radiated in at a frequency that is detuned by a detuning shift relative to a resonance frequency of a spin species that is to be represented, such that by way of the detuning shift a linear evolution of the phase over the temporal progression of the composite RF pulse results.

A method for generating 2-refocusing pulses for magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and for performing spectral editing of MRS data using differential custom bandpass editing. Acquisition may be performed using echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI), for example. The 2-refocusing is achieved using chemical-shift-selective adiabatic 2-refocusing pulses, without spatial-selective (e.g. slice-selective) refocusing. The spectral editing method uses two data sets with different bandpass (full and partial) editing spectra, and takes the difference of the two edited spectra. The approach lends itself to 3D spectroscopy at B.sub.0 of 7 T or higher, and permits whole brain J-coupled metabolite editing (e.g. 2HG or GABA), with greatly reduced specific absorption rate, shorter repetition time, minimal chemical-shift displacement artefacts (CDSAs), robustness to B.sub.0-inhomogeneity and indifference to B.sub.1.sup.+-inhomogeneity compared with existing spatial-selective methods, such as MEGA.

Capturing MR image data of an examination object using an MR apparatus, including: performing a balanced steady-state free precession sequence with phase progress of 180 degrees per repetition time using the MR apparatus; in the balanced steady-state free precession sequence, providing a white-marker gradient in order at least partially to balance a dephasing caused by a magnetic-field-changing object in the examination object; capturing image data of the examination object using the MR apparatus at an echo time; and adjusting a phase development between phase magnetization of a first and second materials, which form an interface in the examination object, in the balanced steady-state free precession sequence using the MR apparatus, wherein due to the adjusting of the phase development before an effect of the white-marker gradient, a co-phasal alignment of a magnetization of the first material and of the second material at the interface is effected at the echo time.

A data processing apparatus includes processing circuitry configured to: acquire data that are based on a magnetic resonance signal acquired from a specific region of an object, the data being acquired for detecting a chemical shift of substance; and perform relation calculation between a designated chemical shift arbitrarily designated in a predetermined range of the chemical shift and displacement amount of a position of the specific region displaced due to the designated chemical shift, as position correction data.